Police comment on hate crime at Alliance conference

In a PSNI first, an officer from Community Safety Branch has attended a fringe Alliance Party Conference to comment on hate crime in Northern Ireland.

Inspector Robin Dempsey outlined what steps the PSNI is taking to combat hate crime at the Party Conference in the Dunadry Hotel.

"Provisional figures show there were 530 incidents of hate crime reported between April-December 2004 compared with 346 incidents during the same period the previous year – an increase of 184,” Inspector Dempsey said.

“While reports of hate crime have increased partly because individuals feel more confident about reporting these crimes to police, the reality is that there is still under-reporting of these crimes.”

Amongst measures that have been introduced to tackle hate crime recently include the appointment of specialist Minority Liaison Officers in every Police District Command Unit and the provision of interpretation and translation services and the launch of a hate crime poster to raise awareness of the problem.

"The Police Service continues to need the support of all members of the community to help stamp out this crime,” Inspector Dempsey continued. “We welcome the opportunity to outline the progress that we are making and the challenges that continue to exist at the Alliance Party Conference.

“This is an important issue and it is a priority for the Police Service to ensure that victims of crime feel confident enough to report it to police, and that the perpetrators are brought speedily to justice,” he concluded.

(MB/SP)