WEST Yorkshire Police officer PC Mark Carter – alias Mr Gay UK – has lent his support to a new centre where people can report homophobic incidents.
The hate crime reporting centre is based at Bar Nefertiti, a popular gay venue in John William Street in Huddersfield town centre.
There are now 50 similar centre across Kirklees where people can report incidents such as racist attacks and other h
ate crimes.
Councillor Khizar Iqbal, Kirklees Council's Cabinet portfolio holder for safer communities, welcomed the opening of the latest centre and said: "From a crime statistics point of view, hate incidents are still under reported and it is important that people continue to come forward.
"This will help us to protect our communities from racist and homophobic crimes and offences targeted at people with disabilities."
Since 2002 over 1,500 reports have been made via reporting centres in West Yorkshire. Victims often feel safer at such centres rather than going to a police station.
James Cole, from Bar Nefertiti, said he wanted his venue to become involved in the scheme because he felt there may be people who had experienced hate incidents, but would feel uncomfortable going to a police station.
He said: "As people become familiar with a local bar and get to know the staff they are, in my opinion, more likely to talk about subjects which are often quite difficult to discuss.
"I sincerely hope that people will feel comfortable to approach either myself or other bar team members and report any hate incidents they have either experienced personally or witnessed."
PC Mark Carter, Mr Gay UK 2006, who lives in Bradford but patrols in Huddersfield, said: "It is very important that the public can have a facility to report hate incidents other than at police stations.
"If minority groups are unlikely to report incidents, then the police cannot do their job correctly."
