Hate crime initiative

What is hate crime?

Hate crime is defined as any crime or incident motivated by prejudice or hate, and includes crimes based on race, disability, sexual orientation and faith.

Reporting hate crime

If you have witnessed, or been the victim of, a hate crime, you can now report it online - follow the link on this page.

Hate crime - 'We won't tolerate it!'

"We wont' tolerate it!" was heard right across Shropshire on 15 November 2006, as the Shropshire Partnership, Shropshire County Council, and all of Shropshire's borough and district councils joined forces with West Mercia Police to make a stand against hate crime.

The launch of the 'We won't tolerate it' campaign took place at several locations right across Shropshire, and aims to address the increasing problem of any crime motivated by prejudice or hate. It aims to not only highlight the problem, in which there has been a 23% increase in reported hate crimes in 2005/2006 upon the previous year in Shropshire, but will also increase the amount of places where victims can feel safe about reporting the problems.

The main launch took place on at the Shirehall in Shrewsbury. It had the support from Councillor Michael Owen, portfolio holder for community wellbeing, Carolyn Downs, Chief Executive of Shropshire County Council and Paul West, Chief Constable of West Mercia Police and a host of local people.

The launch also featured a series of creative plays from Theatre In and Development - who highlighted how people can feel and react because of hate crimes. A 'book of commitment' was also available which people were encouraged to sign and show their dedication to stamping out hate crime in Shropshire.

Hate crime is a key priority target for the Shropshire Partnership, which aims to work as a single unified voice to show commitment to action on the subject.