| 20 November 2012
A panel of experts will be live online to answer the publics' questions in a webchat on the work that police and other agencies do to prevent hate crime and domestic violence, support victims and bring criminals to justice, Vigilance can report.
Vigilance learnt that in the first multi agency webchat run by the Met, specialist officers will be joined by representatives from the Crown Prosecution Service and Mencap.
DCI Sam Faulkner said: "We hope that this is great opportunity for us to chat to the public about the huge amount of work that we and other agencies do to try and stop hate crime and domestic violence from happening. Sadly though both hate crime and DV offences are still taking place, so it is also a chance for people to ask questions about what support we can provide victims, or seek advice on the different ways to let police know about what is happening.
DCI Faulkner adde: "Also we want to raise awareness of the issues caused by hate crime and how together with the CPS and charities like Mencap we are committed to making it stop."
Jo Davies, Campaigns and Policy Officer for Mencap, said: "As many as 9 out of 10 people with a learning disability have been victims of hate crime - this is disgraceful and must stop. We need more people to report these crimes to the police so they can bring those responsible to justice and protect people with a learning disability so they can lives their lives as safely and free from fear as anyone else."
Whilest Mr Toks Adesuyan, Legal and Stakeholder Manager, CPS London, said: "The CPS takes hate crimes and domestic violence offences extremely seriously and is committed to supporting victims and witnesses through the prosecution process. We will do this through applying to the court for special measures, including giving evidence behind screens or via video link, and by using other legal measures. These crimes often go unreported and we want to make sure that victims and witnesses are more confident in coming forward to report these crimes."
This innovation is part of the Met's campaign to raise awareness of these crime types, and encourage people to get in touch with them and others, for purpose of providing help.
From 1800 - 1900 today, Tuesday 20th November the public are advised to put their questions to Toks Adesuyan, the Crown Prosecution Service; Jo Davies, Mencap; Jo Keogh, MPS Crisis Intervention Worker and DCI Sam Faulkner who leads the Met wide response to hate crime and DV