What is a hate incident?
Hatred is a strong term that goes beyond simply causing offence
or hostility. Hate crime is any criminal offence committed against
a person or property that is motivated by an offender's hatred of
someone because of their:
- race, colour, ethnic origin, nationality or national
origins
- religion
- gender or gender identity
- sexual orientation
- disability
Hate crime can take many forms including:
- physical attacks - such as physical assault, damage to
property, offensive graffiti, neighbour disputes and arson
- threat of attack - including offensive letters, abusive or
obscene telephone calls, groups hanging around to intimidate and
unfounded, malicious complaints
- verbal abuse or insults - offensive leaflets and posters,
abusive gestures, dumping of rubbish outside homes or through
letterboxes, and bullying at school or in the workplace
Challenging and reducing hate crime
The impact on a range of services (health, housing, education,
social services etc.) and the social and economic cost of hate
crimes show that the overall impact of these crimes far exceed that
of other high volume crimes such as burglary or vehicle crime. This
is one of the many reasons that hate crime receives a different
approach than other non hate motivated requests.
High levels of violence and harassment take place as part of
hate crimes, often over sustained and prolonged periods of time
with long term physical and psychological effects on victims,
children and families. For many this abuse may be verbal abuse
received on a daily basis, intervention is required at this level
before abuse escalates.
We believe that everyone has the right to live without fear of
abuse whether verbal, physical or sexual. Individuals are also
entitled to live in their homes without fearing damage to their
property. We will support victims to report incidents to enable us
to gather evidence of abuse and ultimately to allow the courts to
prosecute the people responsible.
Underreporting
Underreporting is a major issue in relation to all hate crimes.
Research has established that much higher levels of hate crimes
take place than are currently reported. Nationally, the police
recorded 50,000 racially or religiously motivated hate crimes last
year. The British Crime Survey, which is based on interviews with a
wide sample of people and picks up crimes that are not reported to
police, indicated that there were 260,000 such offences last year.
It is estimated that as much as 90% of homophobic crimes are not
reported. Patterns of offending clearly identify that young people
are the main perpetrators for race and homophobic crime.
Homophobic Crime has very low reporting rates which are linked
to broader social issues. Cheshire Police will work to address
these issues around reporting with relevant agencies, voluntary and
partner organisations. Last year 77 crimes were recorded by the
Cheshire Police that were motivated by homophobia.
Please come forward and report any hate crime you are being
subjected to. Without your assistance we cannot stop the hate crime
that is happening to you or begin to tackle the problem long
term.
The primary purpose of TCrime is to gather and collate valuable
nationwide data (that may otherwise go unreported) for the Home
Office, the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service about where
trans related crime is occurring and the type of crimes that are
being committed.
As a secondary aim, the reporting system will also offer the
opportunity, should the respondent wish, for GIRES to pass the
information (anonymously or not) to the police. GIRES will also,
where appropriate, offer contact details for local support
agencies.
How to Report Hate Crime
If you need to report an incident please:
Phone: 0845 458 000 or in an emergency call
999
Email: hate.crime.reporting@cheshire.pnn.police.uk
In person: come to a local police station or a
hate crime reporting centre.