Reporting Prejudice Incidents
What can be reported?
If you have experienced or witnessed any incident that you perceive to be discriminatory on the basis of your own or someone else's race, gender, disability, sexual orientation, faith, religious belief or age, you can report it. It does not have to be a criminal offence to be reported.
This could be an incident you have experienced on the street or in your community, a complaint against a service or outcome, or a complaint against a member of staff,
Incidents could involve verbal abuse, harassment, attacks, damage to property, bullying or graffiti.
If you are experiecing domestic violence, please visit our domestic violence page 
.
Why should I report a prejudice incident?
Poole Safe Together Partnership are keen to encourage victims of prejudice incidents to report these to an agency. By reporting the incident, victims can access a wide range of support services. The agency can also take action to rectify the situation and bring perpetrators to justice.
Increased reporting of incidents also helps us to develop a full picture of the problem in Poole. This is essential for us to tackle the problem and ultimately reduce the level of prejudice incidents in our community. For more information, please visit the Poole Without Prejudice page .
Examples of successful outcomes after incidents have been reported:
- A school pupil was racially abused by a classmate. Both pupils were spoken to by their parents and the headteacher. The perpetrator offered a full apology and both shook hands. No incidents have been reported since.
- A victim reported being verbally abused in the street on grounds of disability. The perpetrator was identified and disciplined by his employer.
- A number of racist stickers were found on the walls of a car park. The stickers were immediately removed.
- A housing tenant verbally abused a neighbour and painted racist graffiti in communal areas. The perpetrator was issued an Acceptable Behaviour Contract and served a Notice Seeking Possession. Mediation was offered to both parties, and no incidents have been reported since.
How to report a prejudice incident
If you have been a victim of or witness to a prejudice incident, you can report it to a number of organisations.
The following organisations will take reports of prejudice incidents and support you through this process:
- Police - In an emergency call 999, in all other cases call 01202 222 222. You can ask to speak to a LAGLO (Lesbian and Gay Liaison Officer) if you wish, in complete confidence. Please call 01202 269911, or 07876 148594 or email. Dorset Police also now run a text and email service for deaf and hard of hearing, known as PLOD (Police Link Officers for the Deaf)
- Borough of Poole - Take reports of all prejudice incidents. Please call 01202 633516 or email.
- Bournemouth and Poole Primary Care Trust - Take reports of all prejudice incidents. Please call 01202 688880.
- Citizen's Advice Bureau - Take reports of all prejudice incidents. Please call 01202 661797.
- Dorset Race Equality Council - Take reports of racist incidents. Please call 01202 553003.
Self reporting
If you wish to self-report a prejudice incident, you can log onto the following websites and fill out the relevant form.
Information for reporting centres
The following documents are available for practitioners who take reports of prejudice incidents. Please contact us by email or telephone 01202 633497 if you would like copies.
- Practitioners Reporting Form - the form is available to download on this page. It is used to fill out reports of prejudice incidents
- Support pack for practitioners - this is available to download on this page. It provides a guide to the reporting process and details of places of support
- Monitoring database - spreadsheet for agencies to record prejudice incidents so that these can be monitored quarterly by Poole Safe Together Partnership
- Prejudice Reporting Explained - Powerpoint presentation to support agencies in training their staff to take reports
- Easy Read Reporting Form - this is available to download on this page for people with learning disabilities to report crime
Directory of support services
If you are an organisation that would like to become a reporting centre or would like to join Poole Without Prejudice, please contact Sue Newell on 01202 633035.
To find out more, please visit our equality and diversity pages.
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