We are supporting National Hate Crime Awareness Week, which is being held from 11 to 18 October. This year, hate crime awareness week has a special focus on crimes that are targeted because of a person’s disability.
We are committed to ensuring our customers are safe from hate crimes in our communities.
What is a hate crime?
Hate crimes are any crimes that are targeted at a person because of their:
- Disability
- Race or ethnicity
- Religion or belief
- Sexual orientation
- Transgender identity
Hate crime can happen in different ways. These could include; offensive language, physical assault, vandalism or criminal damage, and threats or intimidation.
What are LiveWest doing to deal with hate crimes or incidents?
Since November 2024, we’ve changed how we handle anti-social behaviour and hate crime/incidents. Now, our Anti-Social Behaviour and Enforcement team deals with all reports straight away, instead of only after they reach a certain level. We made this change because these cases need staff with the right expertise. This helps us resolve problems faster, before they get worse or harder to fix.
Hate crimes and incidents are high priority for us, under our Anti-social and Hate Crime Policy and Procedure. For reports of hate crimes, we will aim to respond and complete investigations within 24 hours.
When a customer reports a hate crime or incident to us, we will work with the customer on the next steps. This can include working with other agencies, such as the police.
Over the last year we have dealt with 40 reports of hate crimes and incidents.
What should you do if you are the victim of a hate crime?
Hate crimes should be reported to the police in the first instance, either by calling 101 or 999.
You can get further advice and support from Stand Against Racism & Inequality (SARI) or we can ask them to contact you.
The National Stop Hate UK website also provides advice and has a 24-hour helpline which you can call on 0800 138 1625.
You can also report hate crimes to us using our online report antisocial behaviour form.