THE PSNI in Foyle have launched the first of a series of four videos to highlight Hate Crime and encourage reporting from both victims and members of the public who may have information which could assist officers with hate crime investigations.
The first of the series of short videos narrated by victims describing their own personal experiences and explains the emotions and fear felt by a young victim of a homophobic hate crime.
The message is designed to encourage people to think about the impact hate crime incidents have on the victim and the long lasting physiological and emotional damage it can cause.
Superintendent Paula Hilman hopes the campaign will help encourage not just victims but the wider community to report incidents of hate crime to PSNI.
She said: “We very much recognise that hate crime is still significantly under reported therefore we need to ensure victims have the confidence to report these incidents.
“We hope that by sharing the voices of victims explaining their very personal experience of how they are emotionally affected by hatred and discrimination – that we will encourage people to think about the human impact of these wholly unjustified and unacceptable attacks.
“There is absolutely no place in Northern Ireland for intimidation or threats and there is a collective responsibility on all parts of society to protect our most vulnerable communities.
“We would encourage everyone to report any concerns or suspicious activity to the police. We need this information from communities to support arrests and make subsequent prosecutions and put an end to all forms of hate crime.
“It is wrong on all levels and the PSNI will do everything it can to ensure that everyone can live free from prejudice, fear and discrimination.
“We all have a role to play to challenge attitudes of prejudice and hatred and to build confidence and trust to help increase reporting of these unacceptable attacks to ensure results are delivered.”
Hate crime in all its form is wrong.
To help stop it, report it.
There are a now number of ways to report hate crime in the North –
Ring the non-emergency number on 101 and select option 2 or alternatively, members of the public can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.
You can also report online via:
– the PSNI website (https://www.psni.police.uk/
– via the True Vision website (http://www.report-it.org.uk/
– or through the independent charity Crimestoppers (https://crimestoppers-uk.org/
In an emergency always ring 999.
Tags: