Comments on: Prosecutors to review hate crimes procedures

By: Anon

Anon — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 10:03:00 +0000

Mr Halls, I might even know to whom you refer. If so, are you saying recent police abuse of an individual is acceptable if that person has a criminal record from 20yrs ago…and NO convictions since…and that somehow excuses recent univestigated police homophobic abuse police misconduct against them and police abuse of others?You might think Cornwall police are better now, but there are those victims of Cornwall police who would disagree.Mr Halls, Are you of that school of thought as some, that it was OK for police to shoot Charles De Menezes…because his passport visa may have expired, and therefore he should not have been here in the UK?Police abuse misconduct…is still police abuse misconduct.

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By: Michael Halls

Michael Halls — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 23:15:00 +0000

CPS guidelines are about the decision to prosecute, and what happens in Court, and the treatment of LGBT victims and witnesses — so far so good, but yes, the police need to be trained in the guidelines and they aren't. Nationally, police training on LGBT issues has gone down the tubes in the last few years (not that it was ever remotely adequate) but that's a national problem. In fact Cornwall police are now a great deal better than many and far better than they were two years ago (I deal with them all the time) — don't be misled by any private anti-police vendettas that might be conducted by (e.g.) local sex-offenders who might well have personal issues.

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By: Anon

Anon — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:56:00 +0000

Dear Mr Halls:- Not in Cornwall. Not much good if the police simply ignore those guidelines the TRUE VISION policy. The CPS guidelines are also simply ignored by Cornwall police to start with.

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By: Michael Halls

Michael Halls — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:48:00 +0000

Omar, the CPS has a very positive and detailed policy on prosecuting homophobic and transphobic crimes—it was launched five years ago, and has just been revised and updated. The new version was launched in December 2007. Both versions were written with strong effective community input (from me and others), and as a gay community worker myself who's been dealing with crime cases on the ground for ten years I'd say the CPS Policy Guidance have made a great difference.

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By: OMAR KUDDUS

OMAR KUDDUS — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 15:34:00 +0000

Finally, the CPS are doing something constructive, if even they do not fully understand the concept of Hate Crime themselves and no minority groups that it targets are fully represented in their panel. They then shall have standardised policies that cover the whole of the Country and not allow any Homophobia.From whatever source it may come from, including civil servants, authorities and the government itself.

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