Merseyside
News
Liverpool Teenagers produce Hate Crime pack
Liverpool teenagers have produced an anti-bullying pack, which deals with the subject of Hate Crime, the pack has the backing of the National Union of Teachers and the Merseyside Police and may be rolled out nationally. Read More
Knowsley Community Messaging Service is making Crime and Justice more transparent and accessible
A free messaging service is being run by Safer Knowsley Partnership. 3300 People have already signed up to receive free messages about crime reduction, trends, alerts and events via email, phone and text.
Read more at www.knowsleycommunitymessaging.org
Focus On a Local Support Agency:
Knowsley Ethnic Minority Support (KEMS)
Knowsley Ethnic Minority Support (KEMS) is a small local voluntary group in the Knowsley borough of Merseyside whose purpose is to support victims of race hate incidents or crimes in a manner that permits them to make real choices about their situation. We also support them if they feel brave enough to go to the police and the courts through our “buddy” scheme. KEMS was founded by victims of race hate crime in 2004 and has continued to have the involvement of victims throughout its existence. Some of the buddies have been victims of hate crime and this means they have an empathy with victims based on experience.
The idea of the buddying project came out of the Merseyside Criminal JusticeBoard hate crime review, as a means of trying to increase the number of race hate crime victims willing and brave enough to get more involved in the CJ process so that their perpetrators were brought to justice. KEMS was approached to be a pilot “buddy” project and readily agreed.
Through the buddying project KEMs provides the listening ear and practical help and support that other agencies do not. For example:
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- Accompanying victims to court
- Helping victims to explain how they found the criminal justice process to the CPS
- Liaising with police hate crime support officers regarding victims and providing information on victims sometime who are not known to police, their safety and emotional welfare
- Accompanying victims in meetings with employers (where the hate crime affects their work) and medical and other appointments when they are afraid to leave their home
We believe nobody living, working or visiting Knowsley should have to put up with such behaviour. We advise the council about racist crime and we receive some funding from the PCT, Merseyside Probation Trust and Knowsley Housing Trust.
KEMS maintains regular contact with past and present victims of hate crime via regularly visiting them in their homes and in settings such as churches to ensure that we are actively supporting them and relaying any incidents or concerns back to agencies such as the police.
KEMS is delighted that Knowsley Council has now linked up with Stophate UK, and we look forward to a long and productive working relationship with you.
If you wish to contact KEMS, the acting chair is Andy Stelman and he can be contacted at: andystelman@talk21.com
Get Involved
Do you want to give your opinion about how Merseyside Police operates?
Do you want to have a say on how the policies and procedures used by Merseyside Police affect the community?
Over the next 2 years, Stop Hate UK will be running consultation events with members of different communities in Merseyside to find out your views about Merseyside Police’s procedures and policies .
To find out more information about these consultation events, email tim@stophateuk.org or phone Stop Hate UK’s office on 0113 293 5100.
Links
Merseyside Police
Merseyside Police Non-emergency number: 0151 709 6010
Merseyside Society for Deaf People
Mersey Marauders Gay Football Club or search for Mersey Marauders Gay Football Club on Facebook
Homotopia - Liverpool’s annual celebration of Queer Culture
Knowsley Community Messaging
You may also find the support you are looking for on our page of national support agencies.
