South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Dr Alan Billings, has added his support to Hate Crime Awareness Week, highlighting the importance of victims coming forward to report crimes.

Hate crimes are defined as any crimes that are targeted at a person because of hostility or prejudice towards that person’s disability, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation or gender identity.

Hate Crime Awareness Week runs from the 8th – 15th October and aims to highlight ways in which crimes can be reported to help police paint a full picture of the areas they patrol.

Dr Billings says: “Throughout the year my team and I are out and about in communities talking to groups and individuals about policing and crime across South Yorkshire.

“Engaging with people from minority groups of all kinds – of ethnicity or religion or gender or ability – is a key part of this work and provides the opportunity to listen to the experiences of hate crimes and incidents across the county.

“We want to prevent low level incidents escalating into major crimes and I urge anyone who experiences hate crime in any form to report it to the police or anonymously, via Crimestoppers.”

Victims of hate crime can report directly to the Force on 101 (always call 999 in an emergency) or to third party reporting centres, where victims can remain anonymous if they wish. Find out more on how to report here: www.nationalhcaw.uk