Two Brighton girls have been advised by police on issues relating to homophobia after they admitted verbally abusing men they assumed to be homosexual in Brighton & Hove.
The girls, aged 16 and 17, were traced by police after a man complained after suffering homophobic abuse at Madeira Drive, early one morning in June 2013.
Both girls admitted their conduct and, with the agreement of the man, police arranged a special briefing session for each of the girls, to give them an understanding of the effects of their behaviour, using statements from victims of specific hate crimes.
Community Resolution (CR) has been available in Sussex since January 2011 and is a nationally recognised, victim focused, out of court disposal option. It can provide victims with the opportunity to tell offenders about the real impact of their crime, to get answers to their questions and to receive reparation. It gives offenders the chance to understand the real consequences of what they’ve done and to do something to repair the harm.
LGBT liaison officer, PC Rich Bridger, said:
“This new briefing package, which we can adapt to fit the circumstances of other individual hate crime cases, was developed with the help of Stonewall, and the local Allsorts Youth Group, but will only be used in minor cases and with the full agreement of the aggrieved person.
“It consists of a powerpoint presentation taking the offender through facts about the reaction of LGBT victims when faced with crime and anti-social behaviour, and the way in which they can feel particularly vulnerable and distressed by such experiences. We then ask the offender to explain how they react to these realities.
“CR allows police officers to offer victims an alternative way of dealing with usually low level crime and anti-social behaviour, without having to go through the formal criminal justice system. But it is important to remember that this is not the only option open to police and victims. Prosecutions, along with all other criminal justice disposals remain available and are much more frequently used, and can also be used if the CR process is unsuccessful.
“We hope that this new initiative to tackle some hate crime incidents will over time give offenders a real insight into the impact of their behaviour, and will prevent future incidents from happening.”
The victim, a local man who does not wish to be identified, said:
“I am happy that the police have supported us as a community. The Community Resolution process educates offenders and sends a clear message out there that this sort of behaviour is unacceptable.”
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