Peterborough police launch no hate campaign

As part of Crime Prevention Week, the Peterborough Police Service is launching its no hate campaign called “NOH8.”

Peter Williams, the service’s community development and engagement co-ordinator, said the initiative is aimed at improving the reporting of hate-biased crimes in the community.

“(It’s) about trying to educate the public about what constitutes a hate crime; how they might go about reporting it; the kinds of information that’s helpful when you are reporting a hate crime and then accompanying numbers that you might want to call if you are looking for support,” said Williams.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "(It's) about trying to educate the public about what constitutes a hate crime; how they might go about reporting it; the kinds of information that's helpful when you are reporting a hate crime and then accompanying numbers that you might want to call if you are looking for support," said Williams.

A hate crime is defined as any crime that targets a person based on their identification including race, religion or sexual orientation.

READ MORE: Neo-Nazi posters plastered at UNBC, but RCMP says they’re not a hate crime

“One of the things that we hear from people is that they are not certain if something is serious enough to report so one of the things that the Peterborough police has set a precedent for is that we accept all hate bias incidents,” said Williams.

The police will then decide whether it meets a criminal threshold and will track all the incidents to look for any patterns. This includes things like yelling a slur from the window of a car.

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“If they yelled out a racial slur or … screamed something out the window … that’s tracking the hate via incidents. And they may or may not meet a criminal threshold,” said Williams.

READ MORE: Hate crime in Canada: do our laws allow a white nationalist rally?

Some of the community partners the police work with include the Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre, the Community Race Relations Committee and the New Canadians Centre. By working with these partners, Williams said, they hope to improve community safety.

“They work with us on issues such as concerns that people have when they come to Canada, what the police are like, what their role is here, if they have concerns about safety in the community, letting them know what the police role in the community is,” said Tamara Hoogerdyk, director of front-line services at the New Canadians Centre.

Hoogerdyk says they want to encourage people to report hate crimes when they happen.

“Even if it’s something that they might not think is a serious crime it’s something that the police want to know about,” said Hoogerdyk.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Even if it's something that they might not think is a serious crime it's something that the police want to know about," said Hoogerdyk.

As part of an ongoing initiative, police say they will run workshops throughout the year to educate the public on diversity and inclusion to make Peterborough a safe and welcoming place to live.

NOH8 campaign cards will be distributed by police and other partners to help explain what a hate crime is, what to do if you witness a hate crime and who to call if you would like to report a hate crime.

If you are a victim of a hate crime, police urge you to contact them.