Dyfed-Powys Police And Crime Commissioner Cracking Down On Hate Crime

The Police Crime Commissioner of Dyfed Powys Police is cracking down on hate crime and a grant has been awarded to The Olive Trust to deliver a number of hate crime events aimed towards youths in colleges and universities in the Dyfed-Powys region.

Denise Kingsley, CEO says that this is a fantastic opportunity for The Olive Trust to engage with 16-24 year olds and encourage education and information about hate crime in colleges and universities therefore, encouraging a large amount of students to attend in a short time span.

They aim to hold four college and university events in the region and deliver targets to the Police Commissioner that encourage reporting and coming forward if anyone has been a victim of hate crime, using a campaign strategy ‘Don’t Stand Back, Come Forward’ as part of a ‘Not in Our County’ campaign, where it’s felt it is not acceptable in any form within the communities.

A series of diversity mornings and drop-in centre’s are to be held, where youths can speak to someone about hate crime. Hate crime is any crime committed against someone because of their disability, gender-identity, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation and should be reported to the police, however, youngsters may feel uncomfortable about coming forward or may feel it does not merit a complaint being lodged.

Crime figures state Llanelli has the most amount of hate crimes in the Dyfed-Powys region, with race being the main crime reported and where it is proposed the first event will be held.

Chair of The Olive Trust Alan Lloyd remarked:

“We hope to be the agency people contact in the case of third-party reporting where, we can be the liaison between the victim and the police. Further funding is being sorted from the Lottery and private organisations for further drop-ins and campaigns.

“The outcome of the campaign is to further strengthen the communities’ understanding and awareness of the social make-up of the County and it is hoped that further funding will develop our remit and permanent drop-in centres staffed by Olive Trust engagement workers who will reflect the mix of the social community.”

The Olive Trust was founded by Denise Kingsley in 2011 and chaired by Alan Lloyd. The previous Lord Mayor of Swansea has been instrumental in equality training, diabetes inclusion and hate crime reporting within the Dyfed-Powys region.