Threats and violence
Contents
Harassment
Harassment includes intimidation and verbal abuse.
If the behaviour is of a criminal nature (for example, has a threat of violence against you) you need to report this to the police immediately. You must also let them know if you are concerned with your safety, or that of others.
Once it has been reported to the police, please contact us highlighting the details of the incident, the police incident number and the name of the officer dealing with the matter. We will then make a decision whether action can be taken by us. If the behaviour has been ongoing then please make a note of past incidents so we can look at the pattern of behaviour.
If you wish to report criminal behaviour anonymously, please contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
Isolated incidents such as staring or pulling faces would not be considered harassment or antisocial behaviour.
Hate crime
Hate crime is the term used to describe an incident or crime against someone based on a part of their identity. Victims of hate crime and incidents are targeted because of who they are or even because someone thinks they belong to a certain group.
Hate incident is any non-crime incident that is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on any of the hate crime strands. Hate incidents can feel like crimes to those who suffer them and can often escalate to crimes or tension in a community.
Mate crime is a fairly new term and usually means befriending vulnerable people in order to take advantage of them, exploit or abuse them. It is regarded as a form of disability hate crime or age hate crime but can also resemble cases of domestic abuse or violence. Victims of mate crime are often vulnerable due to learning disabilities, mental health problems or illness, or age (targeting vulnerable older or younger people).
Not all hate incidents will amount to criminal offences being taken out, but it is still vital that any hate crimes are reported and recorded by the police. If you have been the victim of a hate crime, please contact the police immediately and report the incident. Please also report this incident to us providing any supporting information you have.
When you report a hate crime incident to us, your account of the incident is very important. Hate crime is a very personal offence and can have devastating consequences. We will take great care in listening to your recollections of the event, and we will not judge or make assumptions. If we know of another support agency that would be able to help you, we will always discuss this with you first and get your permission before making any referrals. We will not do anything without your prior consent, unless we feel that there is immediate danger to your safety, or someone else’s.
Social media
People are allowed to voice their opinions on social media as they are allowed to voice them in person, simply because you don’t agree with their opinion (particularly where it is about you personally) does not mean this is antisocial behaviour, or a crime, or that the police can take action. However, there is a difference between someone being rude, argumentative or having a different point of view to yours and you receiving threats or targeted abuse.
Depending on the circumstances and the nature of the messages, you may wish to deal with this yourself by ‘unfriending’, ‘blocking’ or ‘unfollowing’ that person so that you do not have any further contact with them. You can also make a report to the relevant social network that all have help and advice pages about how to deal with unwanted contact or report unsocial messages.
If a person sends threatening/abusive/grossly offensive messages to another person via Facebook, Twitter or X, or any other social networking site, they could be committing an offence. The most relevant offences are ‘harassment’ and ‘malicious communications’.
If you have received any threatening/abusive/offensive messages via a social networking site and believe that a criminal offence may have been committed, you can report this to the police on 101. If the messages you have received have come from a Melin resident, this can be reported to us once the Police have been notified.