Stags' stadium hosts Nottinghamshire Police’s hate crime conference
Nottinghamshire Police has held its now annual hate crime conference at the home of one of the county’s top football clubs.
The force teamed up with Mansfield Town to host the forum – which focused on eradicating different forms of hate from the community.
Around 120 people attended the Stags’ One Call Stadium, including representatives from the police, fire service, NHS and local councils.
The conference was organised as part of the national Hate Crime Awareness Week, which ended on October19.
Guest speakers from a range of organisations provided an insight into the work they do, in a bid to improve understanding and give attendees an opportunity to ask questions.
Among those to speak was an Iman from a local mosque, as well as representatives from groups such as Mencap, Notts LGBT+, and the National Holocaust Centre.
The event also provided a forum for people to explore how organisations can work in partnership with the police to combat different forms of hate crime and also support victims.
Chief Inspector Craig Berry, Nottinghamshire Police’s hate crime lead, said: “We said following last year’s event that we’d received lots of positive feedback and several requests to make our hate crime conference an annual affair, so we’re delighted to have been able to do that.
“We’re absolutely committed to doing whatever we can to counteract hate crime offending but are fully aware that working in partnership with other organisations is crucial to doing this.
“This was a fantastic event that brought all of these groups together for a common cause of highlighting the damage hate can cause and why it won’t be tolerated.
“These organisations will have an alternative insight to us about the impact different types of hate can have on people, so listening to some of this will have only benefitted our understanding as a police force.
“On top of that though, the other groups at the conference were able to hear about the work we’re doing in the police around hate crime, so that we can hopefully work together more going forward.”
The force’s ongoing efforts to improve policing through the Police Race Action Plan and the work being conducted by its dedicated football officers to tackle hate at matches were among the topics discussed at the event.
A hate crime can be separated into three types – physical assault, verbal abuse or incitement of hatred – and is any incident that is perceived to be based on someone’s prejudice towards a person because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or because they are transgender.
The conference was organised by the force’s Hate Crime Team, who work closely with local partners to support victims of hate and engage with communities to help people feel comfortable reporting incidents.
These efforts have led to some great results, in the form of a 27 per cent increase in a hate crime report leading to a positive outcome, when comparing April to July with the same period 12 months earlier.
This could take place in the form of a charge, youth or adult caution, penalty notice, or a community resolution.