The police are here to help; that’s the message from Hampshire Constabulary as new figures on hate crime are published.
The report suggests that the average number of hate crimes committed each year nationally is higher than the number reported to the police.
‘An Overview of Hate Crime in England and Wales’ was published today (Tuesday, December 17) by the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Office for National Statistics.
It shows that in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, 1,132 hate crimes were reported to police in 2011/12 and 1,203 in 2012/13.
Inspector Sarah Clapham from the force’s Public Protection Department said:
“What the report highlights is that the police, working with our partners, still have much to do to encourage communities to speak out about hate crime, give them confidence to come forward and report incidents and demonstrate that something can be done.
“Hate crimes are offences which target individuals or communities because of who they are, for example on the grounds of disability, gender identity, race, religion or sexual orientation. They can go to the heart of one’s personal identity and make that individual or community feel more vulnerable or isolated as a result.
“A hate crime offence may range from threatening or offensive language or behaviour through to serious violence including murder, but each one exposes some of the most reprehensible and prejudicial attitudes towards differences in our communities that go far beyond acceptable comment or opinion.
“My message to anyone who has been assaulted, threatened, intimidated because of who they are is to report it to the police because we are here to help and there is always something we can do. We take all hate incidents and hate crimes very seriously; we will always investigate and help victims get the support they need.
“All police officers and police community support officers can help and, if required or requested, we also have specially trained staff, such as Lesbian and Gay Liaison Officers and Disability Champions, who have an extra understanding in their areas of expertise.”
How to report a hate crime
There are many ways to report hate incidents, including on 101 or 999 in an emergency. If you don’t want to speak directly to police, you can ask a friend to report it or report it via the True Vision website.
You can also access our hate crime app for smartphones which has more information about hate incidents and hate crimes and the support services available.
For details of how to download the app, and more on hate crime in general, take a look at the hate crime pages of the Hampshire Constabulary website.
