Hate crime

What is hate crime?

A hate incident is any incident which the victim, or anyone else, thinks is based on someone's prejudice towards them because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or because they are transgender.

If you, or anyone you know, has been called names, been bullied or had anything happen to them that you think may be because of one of these factors, then you should report this as a hate incident. Even if you don't want the incident to be investigated, it is important that the police know about it, so that they can build up a picture of how many incidents are happening and where. This information can help police investigating other hate incidents.

Not all hate incidents will amount to criminal offences, but those that do become hate crimes. 

Types of hate crime include:

  • Race and religious hate crime
  • Homophobic and transphobic hate crime
  • Disability hate crime
  • Crimes against older people 

Has it happened to you?

The police and the Crown Prosecution Service take all hate crime very seriously. We know that lots of victims of hate crime don't tell anyone what has happened to them. This might be because they think they won't be taken seriously. Or it might be because they don't realise that what is happening to them is a crime.

All police forces would want you to report crimes and they take all reports of crime very seriously but, if it could be a hate crime, the police will take it even more seriously. This is because all people are entitled to live their lives free from bullying and harassment. Dealing with hate crimes is important to protect the rights of all members of society.

How do you report it?

You can report a hate crime in several ways:

  • if it's an emergency and the crime is still taking place, call 999 and ask for the police
  • you can contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 if you want to remain anonymous.

To find out more about hate crime, please see Lancashire Constabulary’s hate crime briefing document which is an informative guide on hate crime and provides further details of the various ways to report hate crimes and incidents.

English hate crime briefing (PDF, 7mb)
Bulgarian hate crime briefing (PDF, 7mb)
Lithuanian hate crime briefing (PDF, 7mb)
Polish hate crime briefing (PDF, 7mb)
Slovak hate crime briefing (PDF, 7mb)

West Lancashire Community Safety Partnership takes hate crime very seriously and would like to develop local Third Party Reporting Centres in West Lancashire. These are a safe neutral location's within the community where people can report hate crime or hate incidents without having to contact the Police directly.

Anybody can use the facility regardless of whether they are a victim, witness, or just someone who is aware of information that needs to be reported. You can report incidents at a Third Party Reporting Centre even if you don't want the police to investigate it.

We will update this page further with details of any agencies or support services that offer this service.