Saturday, April 25, 2009
Police patrols to be increased during the summer months
During the summer months, Sussex Police have announced they are increasing patrols in Kemp Town to help prevent hate crime and will put increased resources into LGBT hate crime investigations.The LGBT community is thought to be in excess of 35,000. That number swells during the summer months as visitors arrive.
Although there has been a decrease in reported LGBT hate crimes over recent years, Sussex Police say they are working hard to support victims who have experienced Hate Crime, securing the prosecution of offenders.
Police say they will endeavor to thoroughly investigate all incidents reported in order to seek a successful prosecution. Not every person who experiences a hate incident wants or feels able to support a prosecution. Every report received is important and can make a difference. By knowing about things that have happened, the police are better able to target resources to where they are needed.
Count Me In Too, research published in 2008 revealed almost three quarters of respondents had experienced hate crime in the last 5 years because of their sexual or gender identity. Only a quarter reported any of the hate crime incidents they had experienced. Of those who reported, 85% had reported the incident as being related to their gender or sexualitities.
When victims did report, they mainly reported it to the Police (55%) or elsewhere (37%) rather than to the Community Safety Team (PCST) (7%) or through the True Vision self-reporting form (1%).
You can call the police for advice about something that’s happened to you. Even if you don’t want the police to take any action, your information helps them to work with LGBT people and make the city safer. To report hate crime you can call 08456070999 or in an emergency 999.
For advice and support you can contact Nick Antjoule on 01273 665657 or PC Bobby Newton
on 01273 665541
or email LGBT@sussex.pnn.police.uk
