Liverpool City Council have launched new tactics in a bid to tackle hate crime in the city.
Officials are introducing a uniform policy for reporting incidents as, until now, there has been no consistent way throughout the council of reporting such incidents, leading to fears that the level of hate-related incidents may be underreported.
Hate crime is defined as “any hate incident which constitutes a criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person. This may be because of their race, transgender status, disability, religion or sexual orientation.”
A hate incident is ”any incident that may or may not constitute a criminal offence, which is perceived by the victim or any other person as being motivated by prejudice or hate.”
The new policy, which was developed with the guidance of Liverpool’s Hate Crime Reduction Forum, sets out a consistent way of reporting and handling complaints.
It aims to improve the confidence in the way the council handles complaints and give reassurance that they will be treated seriously and sensitively, The data collected will also be used to take preventative action wherever possible.
Cabinet member for community safety, Councillor Anne o'Byrne said: "The adoption of this policy is an important step forward in the way we deal with all types of hate crime and hate incidents.
“These sort of crimes and incidents can take many forms from verbal to physical abuse and graffiti or services being refused, but all can have a severe affect on peoples’ lives.
“Until now, we have not had a clear and consistent way that staff who are victims of such incidents or witness them can report them.
“We have now developed a uniform way for reporting and recording incidents which will streamline the way various agencies handle them."
She added: “We are also helping employees to identify what is hate crime and ensure that they are always challenged.
"It reminds them of their responsibilities in this area and will ensure that we have a much clearer picture of the extent of these issues.
“Any member of staff who is the victim or sees a hate crime or incident can now refer to a single document on what they should do.
"There will be no excuse for not reporting such incidents or signposting service users to the support available.
“We want to be an inclusive city which is proud of our diversity and we have made strides in being so. This policy take us a stage further in helping reduce the fear of hate crime.”
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