Police support national hate crime week in Milton Keynes after rise in racial assaults

The force, with community partners, will run an event at the Centre:MK near the Samsung shop, from 11am until 3pm on Saturday.

This comes after a hate crime that should the city, when a woman lost her two unborn babies, and when a woman was spat at in a racially motivated assault in central Milton Keynes.

The event has aims to raise awareness and educate, to promote the Hate Crime Network’s App and to enrol more community members to become champions.

Community members will be promoting the campaign message ‘#WeStandTogether’ against hate crime and ‘#LetsHateHate’, urging action on the part of witnesses to incidents and reinforcing the message that incidents of hate-related activity are not accepted in our communities.

Hate Crime is a crime or incident against you, your friends, your family or your property because of your actual or presumed sexual orientation, transgender identity, disability, race or religion.

Incidents of everyday hate crime continue to go unreported and Thames Valley Police is seeking to reassure the public that those who get in contact will be taken seriously, be dealt with sensitively and can be assured of confidentiality.

Gez Chiariello, LPA Commander for Milton Keynes, said: “Thames Valley Police works hard to reinforce the message that hate-related activity is not accepted in our communities.

“The campaign this week will help us drive home this message and that, whether you’re the victim, a witness or have learned about an incident happening to someone you know, you can contact the police in confidence and we can provide advice and support.”

Anthony Stansfeld, Thames Valley Police and crime commissioner, said: “Hate crime is not something that anyone should tolerate or live with and yet there are still many victims out there who are silently coping with the impact that this crime has on their lives.

“This type of crime has no place in a civilised society and I would encourage anyone who has been a victim or a witness to either report it to the police or contact the Hate Crime Network.

“I hope my new awareness campaign will go some way to help tackle the issue of under reporting and give people the knowledge and confidence needed to come forward and tell us about their experiences.”

A social media campaign following #WeStandTogether will be running throughout the week and members of the public can find out more about what is happening in their area by linking to their neighbourhood twitter accounts.