What are the support needs of hate crime victims? The Hate Crime Research Group, Department of Applied Social Science, Lancaster University UK

Numerous third party reporting schemes have been established across the UK involving a vast investment of resources from the public and voluntary sectors. However, there has to date been a lack of evaluation of the effectiveness of schemes and little sharing of good practice.

The very limited evidence that is available suggests mixed outcomes. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some schemes are working successfully while disappointing numbers of reports are made to other third party reporting centres.

What is your experience? Is your reporting scheme working? We would be very interested to hear about it. Contact us at: thcrg@lancaster.ac.uk

Recommendations made by the report of the Inquiry into the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence have had a fundamental impact on the policing of ‘race hate crime’ in the United Kingdom and they have lead to a plethora of policy initiatives. In the case of racist incidents the Inquiry recommended that : "...all possible steps should be taken by police services at local level in consultation with local government and other agencies and local communities to encourage the reporting of racist incidents and crimes. This should include a) the ability to report at locations other than police stations and b) the ability to report 24 hours a day."

These provisions, which have come to be known as third party reporting, have since been extended to include crimes in which persons are victimised on account of their religion, sexual orientation, or disability. The assumption is that some victims are less inclined to report incidents to the police than to another agency - possibly because of a lack of trust and confidence in the police, the fear of reprisals from perpetrators if the police get involved, a feeling that the incident is not serious enough for police action, or simply because police stations are not nice places to go to.

The very limited evidence that there is about the success of third party reporting schemes suggests some very mixed outcomes. Most recently, the London Race Hate Crime Forum - a multi-agency partnership for tackling race hate crime across the London boroughs stated in its 2007-08 annual report that in London: "Third Party Reporting does not appear to be working effectively and current systems do not appear to be cost effective." *

The London Race Hate Crime Forum concluded that most London boroughs “have struggled to implement effective Third Party reporting schemes, and indeed, many boroughs had openly acknowledged serious difficulties with current Third Party Reporting schemes on their borough. This also reflects feedback from many voluntary agencies that have attended RHCF meetings as part of the community participation at RHCF meetings.” Unfortunately, in its annual report the London Race Hate Crime Forum does not offer any reasons or analysis as to why third party reporting does not appear to be working in London.

What is your experience? Is your reporting scheme working? If it is, how do you measure success? What suggestions would you offer to those setting up new schemes? Would you be prepared to share your experience? Contact us at: thcrg@lancaster.ac.uk

* Metropolitan Police Authority (2008) London Race Hate Crime Forum Annual Report 2007-2008, London: MPA.

The Hate Crime Research Group
Exchanging good practice learning about tackling hate crime e-mail: thcrg@lancaster.ac.uk
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Home What is Hate Crime? Group Members Online Hate Crime Library Events Seminars Contact Us Report a Hate Crime Read our Hate Crime Blog	Third party reporting: what works, what doesn’t and why? Numerous third party reporting schemes have been established across the UK involving a vast investment of resources from the public and voluntary sectors. However, there has to date been a lack of evaluation of the effectiveness of schemes and little sharing of good practice. The very limited evidence that is available suggests mixed outcomes. Anecdotal evidence suggests that some schemes are working successfully while disappointing numbers of reports are made to other third party reporting centres. What is your experience? Is your reporting scheme working? We would be very interested to hear about it. Contact us at: thcrg@lancaster.ac.uk Recommendations made by the report of the Inquiry into the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence have had a fundamental impact on the policing of ‘race hate crime’ in the United Kingdom and they have lead to a plethora of policy initiatives. In the case of racist incidents the Inquiry recommended that : "...all possible steps should be taken by police services at local level in consultation with local government and other agencies and local communities to encourage the reporting of racist incidents and crimes. This should include a) the ability to report at locations other than police stations and b) the ability to report 24 hours a day." These provisions, which have come to be known as third party reporting, have since been extended to include crimes in which persons are victimised on account of their religion, sexual orientation, or disability. The assumption is that some victims are less inclined to report incidents to the police than to another agency - possibly because of a lack of trust and confidence in the police, the fear of reprisals from perpetrators if the police get involved, a feeling that the incident is not serious enough for police action, or simply because police stations are not nice places to go to. The very limited evidence that there is about the success of third party reporting schemes suggests some very mixed outcomes. Most recently, the London Race Hate Crime Forum - a multi-agency partnership for tackling race hate crime across the London boroughs stated in its 2007-08 annual report that in London: "Third Party Reporting does not appear to be working effectively and current systems do not appear to be cost effective." * The London Race Hate Crime Forum concluded that most London boroughs “have struggled to implement effective Third Party reporting schemes, and indeed, many boroughs had openly acknowledged serious difficulties with current Third Party Reporting schemes on their borough. This also reflects feedback from many voluntary agencies that have attended RHCF meetings as part of the community participation at RHCF meetings.” Unfortunately, in its annual report the London Race Hate Crime Forum does not offer any reasons or analysis as to why third party reporting does not appear to be working in London. What is your experience? Is your reporting scheme working? If it is, how do you measure success? What suggestions would you offer to those setting up new schemes? Would you be prepared to share your experience? Contact us at: thcrg@lancaster.ac.uk * Metropolitan Police Authority (2008) London Race Hate Crime Forum Annual Report 2007-2008, London: MPA.	Projects Third party reporting: what works, what doesn’t and why? Sending the right message? Hate crime, media and communications How does 'hate' hurt? What are the support needs of hate crime victims? Rehabilitation of Targeted/Hate Crime Offenders Täterrehabilitation im Zusammenhang von Targeted/Hate Crimes Department of Applied Social Science
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Third party reporting: what works, what doesn’t and why?

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