Essex Police have "zero tolerance" for hate crime
The force has met with faith and community leaders
Essex Police say they have "zero tolerance" for hate crime, and any related offences, as they meet with faith and community leaders to discuss priorities and each others needs.
Councils and voluntary groups, as well as other blue light services, were also in attendance at The Faith and Blue Lights Conference at Chelmsford Cathedral which was held yesterday (October 18).
Organised by the Essex Faith Covenant, it aims to encourage stronger relationships between all of the groups and services involved, and discusses relationships between communities as well as social issues.
Superintendent Naomi Edwards is Essex Police's strategic lead for hate crime. She says:
“We recognise that the way police officers respond to and investigate hate crimes and related offences has a dramatic effect on the public’s confidence in policing.
“Most importantly, it has a dramatic effect on the victim, their family and friends.
“I want to reassure people in all our communities that Essex Police has zero tolerance for any form of hate crime and related offences. It is not OK for people to be targeted or abused for who they are or what they believe.
“We’ve solved more hate crimes in the first nine months of this year than in the same period last year and offences are down, too.
“We take all reports extremely seriously and victims should have absolute confidence to come forward to report them to us. No-one should live in fear.
“If you feel you need support to do so, you can visit one of our Hate Incident Reporting Centres based around the county. We also have specially-trained Hate Crime Ambassadors to support victims.”
A release from Essex Police quoted statements from many leaders of faith organisations across the county.
Rev Canon Ivor Moody, of Chelmsford Cathedral and chair of the Essex Faith Covenant said:
“We want to represent faith communities to the emergency services, councils and other agencies in Essex so they know what is happening on the ground in these various communities and the fantastic work they do.
“And we want them to realise that those in authority, particularly the emergency services, are there for them. Some faith and minority communities don’t have a long history of interacting with police and the emergency services and so the aim of the conference was to build links between these two areas.
“We wanted to help make it clear that the police, fire and ambulance services are very much concerned with the full impact of and importance of issues such as race hate crime and multi-faith working.”
Rabbi Warren Elf, from Southend and District Reform Synagogue, was also in attendance at the conference:
“We’re looking at resilience and I think faith communities need to be able to contribute to resilience when there are crises and emergencies. Some faith communities can provide people to be trained to help respond and help in whatever way the emergency services or local authorities feels is necessary in a crisis.”
Tariq Mahmood, vice chair of Havering Islamic Centre and Havering Inter Faith Forum, says it’s important to be inclusive.
“It’s good to collaborate on issues which affect society in this country and help to combat differences between people, showing we can come together on common issues.
“It’s very important to have good relationships with the emergency services and I’m pleased the conference was interested in approaching people of my faith, how to deal with them and what to expect.
“People are well informed and I’m pleasantly surprised by that. The police make us feel safe. They want to meet us and they visit congregations and listen to the issues the attendees have.
The relationship’s very important. Knowing how to contact the community policing teams is important and we need to make sure that’s publicised properly.”
Sikhs of Chelmsford leader Shweta Kaur says she wants everyone to be able to approach the emergency services.
“I want to be a friendly face and reassure people that the emergency services are there to help them.
“One of the principles of the Sikh faith is to engage with the community we live in. It’s very important we work together for the betterment of society overall, not just our community.
“And, if our children want to work in the emergency services, the parents shouldn’t be daunted and wonder whether the service will accept diverse cultures.”
The conference saw discussions between the groups, organisations and blue light services to speak about different social issues and to build better bridges where there are thought to be gaps.