Officers to engage with communities in Teesside as part of hate crime awareness week

Neighbourhood and Police Community Support Officers (PCSO) will be visiting schools, colleges, community centres, churches, mosques and more to show the force’s commitment and support to the week.

The engagement will take place across all four districts – Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton – to further build relationships between local officers and the community.

Officers will be educating members of the public on what a hate crime is and the various ways to report it as well as encouraging people to seek support from a variety of local and national organisations.

Hate crime awareness week will run until Saturday 19 October.

Cleveland Police’s hate crime lead, Superintendent Emily Harrison, said: “I am delighted that officers are taking part in hate crime awareness week and will be engaging with members of their community in a variety of ways throughout the week.

“While officers do this on a regular basis, awareness weeks like this are an opportunity to go that one bit further.

“People can expect to see them visiting schools, community centres and holding stalls in shopping centres to educate and provide advice on hate crime and most importantly to encourage victims to report it.”

Keep an eye on the four local Facebook accounts and the main Cleveland Police Facebook account where we will be sharing what engagement officers have been doing throughout the week.

There are numerous ways to report a hate crime.

You can call Cleveland Police on 101, visit the force’s website or use the COPA app.

Alternatively, you can report the crime to a third sector or charity organisation as well as your local council. More information can be found here

If you wish to report it anonymously you can visit the charity Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111 or visiting the website.