West Yorkshire Police urge the public to report hate crime (From Ilkley Gazette)

West Yorkshire Police urge the public to report hate crime

11:00am Monday 7th January 2013 in Local news

Police are reminding people how they can report hate crimes.

If a crime is ongoing, and particularly when a person’s safety is at risk, a police spokesman said it was vital that they ring 999.

The spokesman said: “West Yorkshire Police recognise there might be reasons that make members of our community reluctant to contact us regarding hate crime.

“While we believe that some of the reasons behind this reluctance are based on a misunderstanding of police procedures or impressions of the police which are out-dated, we have to acknowledge that these views still exist and would therefore recommend contacting a third party reporting centre if you need to talk to someone about an incident but don’t feel confident contacting the police.

“There are around 300 third party hate crime reporting centres in the West Yorkshire area. The easiest way to find the nearest one to you is to use an internet search engine.

“These reporting facilities are most commonly found at local authority offices and housing associations. College and university advice centres often provide this service too.

“There is also an organisation called Stop Hate UK (stophate.org) who can discuss your report by telephone, e-mail, SMS or text relay.”