Wandsworth Police Encourages Hate Crime Victims To Come Forward

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Striving to increase the trust and confidence

Wandsworth Borough like other London boroughs, has specially trained Community Safety Unit officers who investigate and offer specialist support to anyone targeted due to their race, colour, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or to anyone who has experienced domestic violence. In relation to homophobic and transphobic hate crime these investigators are further supported by LGBT Liaison Officers.

Liaison officers are a vital part of delivering the best quality police service for Londoners. They help the police build trust and confidence among LGBT people so that together they can support victims and bring hate crime perpetrators to justice.

Detective Superintendent Campbell said,
" The Met is also wholly committed to tackling hate crime in all its forms, including homophobic crime. We will work in effective partnership with victims, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) focused organisations and other partners in improving service delivery to, and supporting victims & witnesses, whilst robustly challenging perpetrators".

The police continue to strive to increase the trust and confidence of people so that they are more likely to report they have been the victim of a hate crime and strengthen their relationship with them and other community members including LGBT people.

Wandsworth Police want victims of hate crime to come forward and they assure them that the information they provide will be treated seriously, sensitively and confidentially. The police actively encourage all community members to report crime irrespective of how serious they believe it to be. There are a number of ways in which people can report crime including:

1. In an emergency e.g. you need medical assistance or a suspect is present or nearby, you should always dial 999.
2. In a non-emergency situation you can contact the police direct on 0300 123 1212
3. You might prefer to contact your local LGBT Police Liaison Officer their contacts can be obtained online, usually via a Community Safety Unit: www.met.police.uk/csu
4. Homophobic and Transphobic crimes/incidents can be reported via the Metropolitan police Website: www.met.police.uk
5. Call the Stop Hate UK 24 hours Help Line free on 0800 138 1625 or online www.stophateuk.org/tell
You may prefer to report via a third-party reporting site such as Galop (www.galop.org.uk), London Friend (www.londonfriend.org.uk) or use a police funded Truevision pack.
If you have information about a crime you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 500 111.

April 14, 2011