Police launch hate crime conference

Organisations across the county made a special trip to Luton to attend Bedfordshire's first ever Hate Crime Conference.
Key speakers at the conferenceKey speakers at the conference
Key speakers at the conference

The insightful talks were held on Tuesday at Venue 360, Gipsy Lane, aimed at organisations which may come into contact with hate crime victims, such as schools, housing agencies, universities, council workers, health providers, carers, mental health charities and third party reporting centres.

Bedfordshire Police hate crime Sergeant James Hart, said: “The conference was a great opportunity to educate partner agencies about hate crime and how some of the people they come into contact with might be suffering in silence. It was also a chance to understand each other’s roles as there are many ways we can support victims by working together.”

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The organisations learned about what constitutes a hate crime, who the victims and potential perpetrators are, what happens once a hate crime is reported to police and the impact it has on victims and communities.

The aim of the event was to give people the confidence to report hate crime.

Speakers included: chief executive of the office of the police and crime commissioner Mark Cooper, Bedfordshire Police hate crime Sergeant James Hart, chief crown prosecutor Adrian Foster, Neil Monk of Victim Support, Val Ross from The Anne Frank Trust Ambassador Programme for Schools, Jeff Arnold of TellMama, and Transgender TV presenter Sophie Cook.

Hate crime can be reported to police on 101 or online to True Vision at www.report-it.org or via Third Party Reporting Centres.

Catch up with the latest news about what Beds Police is doing to tackle hate crime by following @BedsHateCrime on Twitter.