Agenda item

Northants Police made a decision it would not have a hate crime unit; MS holds this portfolio for Northampton. The force is happy to look into this decision in another 6 months’ time and will continue to review the service as they do for all other areas.

MS gave an overview of what used to be the Hate Crime unit – which was a team of individuals who would deal with a percentage of hate crimes and incidents crime. However the force is in a position where it has budget constraints. They have tried to maintain the service provided, and looked at a number of small dedicated teams and asked whether they could afford to keep team, and thought of how the service could be improved. Previously, an officer would attend a crime, and if was classed as a hate crime this would be passed on to the unit. Now, if a ‘serious’ crime is suffered, this is dealt with by detectives and CID, and other crimes are dealt with directly by Police officers. Through this change, MS said that they now have a local oversight of hate crime.

MS told the forum that the force understand that this change will bring challenges, and that some may not have the same service that they had six months ago, however they will deal with these incidences as they arise. MS advised the forum that he has attended NIFF, this forum, and will also be attending LGBTQ forum in September, and is happy to talk about issues with everyone.

Questions:

AR – felt that this decision has eroded trust in communities, specifically how the decision was made with the lack of communication, equality impact assessment, and anything else to pay due regard to statutory responsibility for equality. AR asked about Hate incident review groups that were in place previously and haven’t met since April. How and when will these groups meet? AR said that NREC have facilitated more complaints in last 2 months than last 4 years around hate crime.

MS advised that HIRGs will keep meeting. MS is ensuring they are in place in Northampton and Andy Cox will put in place elsewhere. MS has written to Luisa Jepson, the new Hate Crime Coordinator, about this and they will be up and running ASAP. ACTION: MS will send the dates for these through.

JR – How do we make clear than BME needs are being taken care of, and how much savings are really being made?

MS advised that the Hate Crime unit was just one of a number of areas of cuts. MS said that he believes the service will be maintained at an acceptable level; if you report an incident to Northamptonshire Police, an officer will investigate the issue, resolve with you and put governance in place to ensure this is dealt with properly. MS said that the he hadn’t seen a large amount of dissatisfaction since the change, but will look into this to confirm. With regards to the needs of BME communities and their perception of the Police as a result of the change, the Force did anticipate the issues with perception, but also have similar concerns as other cuts are made. However there is a commitment in Northampton to maintain and improve the hate crime service.

WB – took a lot of time for communities to be active with reporting, officers have not in past reported crimes did not take responsibility and did not ensure crimes were investigated. To have someone to speak to who understood issues and would follow through was really important. WB said that she would like to see a commitment to BME communities and to communities who are affected disproportionally by hate crime. WB asked that this is taken back to PCC.

MS explained that this was a decision made operationally by the chief constable, rather than the PCC. MS himself was not involved in the direct decision making so cannot comment on the way the unit was closed.

AR raised that she believes the communication from the Police happened a week after the unit was closed, and that NREC had 2 weeks to run petition campaign, of which that haven’t had any communication from the Police since it was handed to the Police. On the day of closure, AR does not believe that there were any announcements made to the press. AR felt that this implies a lack of transparency.

MS said that he would be surprised if the petition would have made any difference as other factors made the decision financially. MS advised that he will ask the question about the Community Impact Assessment and whether or not this was conducted. MS added that the Chief makes a lot of operational decisions every day, and that it would be difficult to consult all communities on every decision.

JC asked whether officers have received training. MS advised that training has been completed around risks and vulnerable victims, and the Force will now look at officer’s skills, and will implement ongoing training over the coming months. MS advised that there are safeguards in place – Officers are aware of all categories of hate crime; if they fail to identify this will be picked up by an auditor in control room.

AR asked what the Force wants the review results to look like. The forum agreed to invite a representative from the Police for the January meeting to discuss further what has/hasn’t worked, which gives the 6 month window for review.

MS advised the forum that he stands by the force decision as the right thing to do. However, MS will go back to the Chief regarding the Community Impact Assessment. MS also advised that he will look at complaints they have received and keep an eye on this. If any problems are experienced, please send through to MS either through AR at NREC or through the forum – all feedback appreciated.