Hate Crime
Hate crime can take many forms, but it’s most commonly seen in a person’s direct actions toward others. They might act differently due to racism, homophobia, transphobia or on the grounds of someone’s disability or their religion or belief.
Nottinghamshire Police describes hate crime as “any incident, which may or may not constitute a criminal offence, which is perceived by the victim or any other person, as being motivated by prejudice or hate”.
This may seem a bit complicated, but all it really means is if you, or anybody else thinks something has happened because of prejudice then we will treat it as a hate crime. Some forms of prejudice, such as verbal abuse, insults and threats are obvious to everyone.
Other forms may be less obvious, for example damage to your property, children being bullied at school, malicious complaints or antisocial behaviour directed at a person.
Obvious or not, this may cause feelings of anger, frustration, isolation, helplessness and fear. If you’re a victim, it’s important to know you’re not alone and that help is available.
The police take hate crime seriously and will support you. We work in partnership with a number of other agencies, both within the criminal justice system and externally.
With your consent and where appropriate, we will seek to share information about your incident with these agencies so you can be provided with the very best support and services available.
To report hate crime call 0300 300 99 99.
