Stamping out Racism in Harrow

The number of reporting centres is being increased from eleven to 24 and now includes places which are central to daily community life. For example, places of worship, housing associations, further education establishments, supermarkets and a hospital.

Each centre has between one and three designated "community contacts" that have been trained to take reports in an empathetic manner. Each report will be taken in a confidential setting and the contact will be able to offer emotional support and practical advice. The details of the report will then be forwarded to the council's Race Hate Crime Co-ordinator and support will be given from agencies including the police, victim support and housing and legal services.

Reporting a racist incident does lead to action being taken. A local victim reported a racist incident and now the perpetrator has been charged and the case is going to the crown court later this year.

They said: "I was experiencing racial harassment on a regular basis and was too afraid to report it, however as the incidents increased I decided that I needed to report it.

"At first I felt that nothing would be done if I reported however, once I visited a Third Party Reporting centre the process was made easier and I was guided and signposted to the right services. All the agencies involved were extremely helpful and dealt with the situation in a really empathetic manner.

"I gave a statement and along with supporting witness accounts the police were able to arrest and charge my perpetrator."

Councillor Chris Mote, portfolio holder for community and cultural services, said:

"In Harrow we are committed to providing quality of life for every resident and while incidences of race and hate crime in Harrow are relatively low, the level is still unacceptable.

"We recognise the level of reported racial abuse is not the full extent of the problem in our community and we want to encourage people to work with us and our partners to stamp out this despicable behaviour."

On the 27 September, from 12-4pm, at the St George's Centre Harrow Council has arranged for residents to come to a launch of the new Race Hate Crime centres. This event will feature a rolling series of performances from young people and a rap specially written for the occasion by AC Choat of AC and Terra fame.

For more information on the new reporting centres visit: www.harrow.gov.uk/hatecrime