Councillors speak out about hate crime

Councillors have firmly expressed their concerns in relation to reports of racially motivated incidents across the UK, and reiterated a commitment to tackling the  problem of prejudice and hate crime in Devon. 

Members discussed the issue at Devon County Council’s meeting of its Full Council yesterday, (Thursday 28 July).

Councillor Barry Parsons, the Council’s Cabinet Member with responsibility for Performance and Engagement, has said:  “Devon is a caring and hospitable place and has a long history of welcoming people from a range of communities and faiths.  We are fortunate to have strong and supportive communities across the county.

“However, racism and xenophobia have no place in our society.  We take any examples of hate crime extremely seriously and will see that the appropriate action is taken to deal with it.”

The Council is one of 23 organisations across the county that have signed Devon’s Joint Declaration for Equality.  The declaration demonstrates a shared commitment to achieving equality and fairness for everyone.

Councillors reasserted their commitment to the declaration yesterday, promising to work with people and communities to ensure that:

• People can achieve their own potential and a good quality of life.
• Devon is a strong, safe and inclusive community; and that there are good relations between different communities; and that people are treated with dignity and respect at work, as customers and in the community.
• People have trust and confidents to report incidents of abuse or discrimination.

The county council works closely with the police and other agencies to raise awareness of hate crime and encourage reporting.

Cllr Parsons said:  “We recognise that prejudice-related crimes and incidents cause a great deal of suffering for victims and for their friends and families, as well as undermining cohesion in the community.  We are absolutely committed, through the Safer Devon Partnership, to tackling the problem of prejudice and hate crime across the whole county.”

Read more about the declaration on the Council’s website.  Or for information about how to report hate-related incidents or crime, visit this website.