Camden says it’s no place for hate
To help tackle the issue of hate crime, to understand why it is often not reported to the police and reported crimes in Camden have decreased, Camden Council has asked residents for their views. Our work showed that residents might not report a hate crime because they believed their experiences were too trivial, had fears of revenge attacks or lacked confidence that action would be taken.
National research suggests around 60% of hate crimes are not reported to the police, and in Camden hate crime reports have decreased by 35% over the past four years.
In January and December Camden asked residents about their experiences of hate crime to understand what potential barriers there might be to reporting, as well as how to provide better support to victims.
We received 136 responses to the survey in total. Over half of online survey participants identified that hate crime is motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a personal characteristic, such as actual or perceived race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or gender identity. However, of those participants responding to the survey via our community researchers, this figure was much lower. Around three quarters of those people did not understand the term ‘hate crime’.
Most residents who identified themselves as having certain personal characteristics had experienced a hate crime in their lives, including all those who identified themselves as LGBT, and the majority who considered themselves to have a disability or identified as Muslim or Jewish.
We have been working with frontline staff from organisations across Camden to develop joined up solutions to tackle hate crime and we have developed a panel that meets with the police, mainstream and specialist agencies to address high-risk cases.
"This research has helped us to learn more about the scale and impact of hate crime in Camden. We will now be using findings to work with our communities and partners to make sure every resident in Camden feels safe and confident in reporting hate crime.
“We are working in partnership with the Metropolitan Police Service and community organisations to ensure victims are given the information and support they need to report hate crimes and that their reports lead to action being taken against perpetrators.”
Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Packer, Metropolitan Police Service, said:
“Camden Police has a community safety unit staffed with specially trained detectives to ensure victims get the best care, cases are built and perpetrators are prosecuted.”
ENDS
Residents who would like to speak to someone about hate crime can call the police to make a report on 101 or 999, or contact one of the following organisations who can make an anonymous report on their behalf:
Camden Community Safety Servicecamden.gov.uk/communitysafety020 7974 4444
Camden Safety Net020 7974 2526
Camden LGBT Forumcamdenlgbtforum.org.uk020 7388 5720
Camden People Firstcamdenpeoplefirst.org.uk020 7388 2007
Hopscotch Asian Women’s Centrehopscotchawc.org.uk020 7388 8198
Queen’s Crescent Community Associationqcca.org.uk020 7267 6635