Third Party Reporting – Hate Crime

 

Background.

The Stephen Lawrence Enquiry Report made many recommendations putting the onus on the Police to improve their quality of service through investigation, practice, policies, involvement and interaction with the community.

 

One of the recommendations states that:

“All possible steps should be taken by police services at a local level in consultation to encourage the reporting of racist incidents and crimes”.

 

And adds that these steps should include giving the public,

“The ability to report at locations other than police stations”.

 

This is known as Third Party Reporting, and has been extended to include crimes and incidents relating to:

These crimes are known as “Hate crimes”.

 

The definition of a Hate Crime is

Any hate incident, which constitutes a criminal offence, perceived by the victim or any other person as being motivated by prejudice or hate.

 

Hate Incidents can also occur. A hate incident is defined as;

Any incident, which 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.

 

It is known that there are many reasons that prevent people from reporting these crimes and incidents. The decision not to report is often founded on a complex mix of an individual’s emotions, perceptions and expectations.

 

Accessibility to and convenience of police stations is also a determining factor. To overcome the reluctance to go into a police station or have police attend a person’s address, it was decided necessary to identify sites across the Borough who are willing to participate in a Third Party Reporting Scheme (3PR).

 

Reporting in Barnet

Third Party Reporting was launched in Barnet, through the Multi Agency Racial Harassment Group on May 15^th 2002.  There is now comprehensive cover across the Borough of Barnet and is one of the best developed schemes in the Metropolitan Police Area.

 

To begin with the main focus was on encouraging people to report race hate crime. However, this has changed and now in Barnet appropriate sites are available for people to report any type of hate crime.

 

Barnet’s ‘Learning Disabilities Board’ has a multi agency ‘Working in Partnership’ sub group and this group has recently developed an accessible reporting form and supporting DVD designed to encourage people with learning and or physical disabilities to come forward and report hate crime and harassment.

 

The definition adopted in Barnet is based on perception; this means that anyone can report, even if they were not the victim. They can report if they witnessed something or heard about something or had something reported to them.

 

Sites and Reporting

At the moment Barnet has over twenty sites located around the borough they are based at organisations and agencies that are well respected within the community and can demonstrate that they can provide the level of confidentiality that is needed. Locations in Barnet include Libraries, Housing Offices, Hospitals and Community Centres.

 

The procedure to report via a third party reporting centre is not very complicated. It requires someone at the location being identified as the lead for third party reporting. Details of the complaint are recorded on a reporting form and faxed or posted to Colindale Police Station.

 

The Police Diversity Officer or Council’s Community Safety Officer are on hand to assist with the setting up of all new sites. They will advise on how to complete the reporting form as well as informing the lead of whom to send the form to and where to send it.

 

The form requires information on the incident that has taken place and can be completed anonymously if need be. Posters and leaflets are available explaining third party reporting are available for the sites.

 

The Form is then posted or faxed to Colindale Police Station, where it is recorded onto the system and passed to the appropriate team for action.

 

Third Party Reporting encourages the reporting of hate crime by providing support for the victim through a partnership of relevant specialist agencies, and can done without revealing the victim’s personal details.

 

The nature of the incident will determine the level of action that is taken.

However, it will only be with the victim’s consent that will police will investigate the crime. The safety and well being of the victim will always be the first priority and only specially trained officers will investigate these crimes.

 

In some situations the complaint may result in a member of the Police Community Safety Unit contacting the victim in order to obtain further details and an investigation may follow

 

In other situations there may not be enough evidence for the police to follow up or a crime may not have been committed. These type of complaints are not ignored, details of the complaint will still be recorded and the information used as intelligence to help build up a clear picture of what is taking place in the borough. Information where appropriate will be shared with partners who can help monitor situations and plan future operations based on intelligence. All the information will be depersonalised and fed back into relevant Multi Agency Groups. In the long-term a truer picture can be drawn about Hate Crime on this Borough. This will enable the correct level of service to be applied to investigating this invidious crime, as well as providing appropriate support to the victims.

 

All incidents that are reported are acknowledged. A letter including updates is sent back to the third party site that made the report. The Diversity Officer  and or Community Safety Officer are available and on hand for follow up enquires and keep in touch with all the sites on a regular basis.

 

Though hate crime appears to be on the decrease in Barnet anecdotal evidence suggests that there is also a huge amount of under reporting, particularly in certain communities who may for a number of reasons feel unable to report to the police or other agency.

 

It is important that we try to provide as many ways as possible to encourage as many people as possible to come forward and report Hate Crime.

 

 

For more information please contact

Trudi Sills, 020 8359 5623 or email Trudi.sills@barnet.gov.uk  or Simone Newall, 020 8733 1212 simone.newall@met.police.uk