Police remind disabled of their rights over hate crime incidents

Between June 2009 and May this year, there were 554 reports of hate crime across the Humberside Police force area, although none was from disabled people or their carers.

The force believes this is not because there were no disabled victims, but because they are not aware it is a crime to be abused because of disability – or that they have become accustomed to it through a lifetime of abuse.

Andy Pagram, the force's hate crime co-ordinator, said it was "tragic" if disabled people considered abuse to be a fact of life.

He said: "They are mostly reports of homophobic or racial abuse and there were none relating to disability.

"We know there are lots of people out there in our community who suffer hate crime, but people are apprehensive about reporting it to us and that's what we are trying to change.

"We need to educate the community to know that hate crime won't be tolerated, and we want victims to know that if they report it we will investigate and we will support them.

"People with disabilities either don't realise they are able to report this incident, or maybe they have just been so used to it they just accept it as a way of life."

Racial abuse accounted for the majority of the reports (482), while there were 72 reports of abuse relating to homophobia during the period.

Most of the incidents occurred in Hull, followed by Grimsby, Scunthorpe and the East Riding.

A hate crime is any incident which constitutes a criminal offence, which is perceived by the victim or anyone else to be motivated by age, disability, homophobia, racism, religion, belief or transphobia. To encourage more reporting of hate crime, as well as using existing channels, victims or witnesses can now call a dedicated 24-hour reporting line, send a text or email.

Mr Pagram said: "If someone's personal safety or property is at risk then 999 is always the number to use.

"But if someone has got back to a place of safety they can use our hate crime reporting line or any of the other ways; they don't have to approach a police officer in the initial stages."

He added: "The more information we get the more investigating we can do, but if some reports are anonymous we will still use that information for mapping to identify hotspots and to make sure officers are deployed appropriately."

The force is also feeding all reports of hate incidents into its intelligence database, whereas previously incidents were only recorded on a log if they did not constitute a criminal offence.

All officers and staff have also attended a hate crime "masterclass" to increase awareness.

Diversity and cohesion manager Adil Khan said: "Humberside Police will not tolerate any form of hate crime.

"We are committed to ensuring the safety of our community members regardless of their race, beliefs, immigration status, sexual orientation, or culture.

"Don't tolerate it – report it. No matter how insignificant the incident might seem to you, it may be the final piece of a jigsaw that we are compiling, enabling the arrest and prosecution of an offender.

"We hope that everyone will be able to choose a reporting method that is convenient and that they are comfortable with using."

To report a non-emergency hate incident call 0300 123 4283, text 07772 867343, or email [email protected].