When a hate or sectarian crime happens, it is important that anyone who is a victim, witness or anything else can report it confidently.
One way to do this is to use a 3rd Pary Reporting centre, which are there so that anyone who wants to report a sectarian or hate crime can do so confidently. The centres are also there to raise awareness in the community of how important it is to report these things.
What is 3rd Party Reporting?
If you are a victim or witness of a hate crime you can report something that has happened at a 3rd Party Reporting centre, without going into a police station. The responsibility of a 3rd party reporting centre is to make sure that details of incidents reported from members of the public are passed to the Police, so they have accurate records of hate crime and can enquire further when they need to.
There are more than 300 designated reporting centres, which can be any type of community resource, ranging from local Housing Offices to voluntary groups, where trained members of staff can support the victim or witness, take the report condifentially and forward the information to the police for enquiry.
Why is it important to report a sectarian or hate crime?
Every time a hate crime or sectarian crime is reported it helps Police Scotland to tackle this important issue by providing information about areas of concern and patterns of behaviour which can be used to identify and then lead to finding and prosecuting offenders. Police Scotland is committed to providing a professional and consistent approach to helping vicitimes of Hate Crime, treating everyone equally with due regard to their differences.
If you want to report a sectarian or hate crime you can find your local 3rd Party Reporting centre by clicking on the button below;