Hate crime comes in many forms. Whether you or someone you know have been targeted verbally of physically: It’s not ok, and it’s against the law.
Third Party Reporting Centres
It is widely accepted that hate crimes are under reported. Not all victims are comfortable with reporting their experiences directly to the police. Possible reasons for this may include:
- Lack of awareness of ways to report hate crime
- Victims find visiting police stations intimidating, dangerous or daunting
- Victims believe the police won’t believe them or take them seriously, or will take the side of the perpetrator
- Individuals are unaware they are victims of hate crimes
- Lack of support to help victims make a report, e.g. interpreters
- Victims fear being outed in terms of their sexuality or disability
Third Party Reporting Centres (TPRCs) overcome these barriers by providing an alternative to directly reporting to the police, without which a number of hate incidents and crimes would never be reported or recorded.
Background
TPRCs emerged following the public inquiry into the police handling of the racist murder of teenager Stephen Lawrence in April 1993 (available via this link). The inquiry led by Sir William Macpherson produced a detailed report (the Macpherson Report) in 1998 which made a number of recommendations. In relation to TPRCs the most important was recommendation 16:
“That all possible steps should be taken by Police Services at local level in consultation with local Government and other agencies and local communities to encourage the reporting of racist incidents and crimes.” This should include:
- the ability to report at locations other than police stations; and
- the ability to report 24 hours a day
For more information please visit the Police and Crime Commissioner website via this link
