National Hate Crime Awareness Week 2017 begins today

National Hate Crime Awareness Week 2017 gets underway today until the 21st of October.
To mark the event, police in Derry City & Strabane are taking the opportunity to remind victims and the wider public that help and support is available from a range of organisations and groups.
In a statement, Chief Inspector Paul McCracken said that police are aware that hate crime is underreported and they know that there are a variety of reasons why victims and witnesses are reticent about coming forward.
In the Derry City & Strabane district police want people to have the confidence to come to them when they are being victimised and to know they will be supported.
There are a number of initiatives happening this week across the District involving many of the groups and organisations who support victims of hate crime aimed at raising awareness of the issues and encouraging reporting.
“Hate crime in all its form is wrong. To help stop it, we need people to report it.”
There are a number of ways to report hate crime in Northern Ireland:
Ring the non-emergency number on 101 and select option 2 or alternatively, members of the public can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.