Cheshire's police and crime commissioner is asking victims of hate crime to speak out about what support they've received from the police.
David Keane has launched a survey to obtain the views of Cheshire residents who have experienced hate crime.
The survey is being launched in response to a report released last week which revealed that police in England and Wales are failing to meet target response times to hate crimes in three out of every four cases.
The report by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) found that out of 180 sample cases, it took an average of five days for police to visit 73 victims, while 65 were not seen at all.
The report also found that there was a 57 per cent increase in recorded hate crime offences between 2014-15 and 2016-17, with hate crime accounting for two per cent of all police-recorded offences in England and Wales in 2016-17.
David said: "Hate crime is a heinous crime as it targets its victims right at the heart of who they are; no one should be targeted for being themselves.
"I am deeply concerned about the results of this report from HMICFRS and want to understand how police in Cheshire can provide the most efficient and effective service to support victims of these devastating crimes to help them cope and recover.
"Over the next couple of months, I will be out in our communities across Cheshire talking to victims of hate crime and encouraging them to share their experiences of how police in Cheshire dealt with their complaint."
As well as asking victims of hate crime who reported the incident to the police how long it took police to respond, the survey will also ask victims if they were satisfied with the response from the police and if they reported the crime to any other agencies.
David added "Across Cheshire there are a number of third party reporting centres that work with Cheshire Police to provide alternative facilities for reporting hate crime.
"I want to understand how confident members of the community are reporting incidents directly to our partner agencies."
The survey can also be completed online and is open until Monday 17th September.
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But to be seen to target "Hate Crime" in this way just shows what a right-on, rainbow-waving, politically-driven waste of money our PCC really is.
In essence he's going to drive Police resources AWAY from where they're really needed, in order to chase some sort of phoney political box-ticking agenda.
It really is time that this nonsense was stopped.
“The term 'hate crime' can be used to describe a range of criminal behaviour where the perpetrator is motivated by hostility or demonstrates hostility towards the victim's disability, race, religion, sexual orientation or transgender identity.
These aspects of a person's identity are known as 'protected characteristics'. A hate crime can include verbal abuse, intimidation, threats, harassment, assault and bullying, as well as damage to property. The perpetrator can also be a friend, carer or acquaintance who exploits their relationship with the victim for financial gain or some other criminal purpose.”
As you can see this goes beyond “right on Rainbow waving” and victims of it rightly require protection from the law