North Wales Police have partnered with Arriva public transport to raise awareness of hate crime and how to report.
Working in partnership with the, Arriva buses now display special permanent posters which warn perpetrators that hate crime, and anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated, and that CCTV will be shared with the police.
A hate crime includes verbal abuse, assault or criminal damage that is motivated by prejudice of a person because of their disability, race, religion or nationality.
The education campaign sees police posters displayed on the bottom deck of every single Arriva bus in north Wales and the campaign will also see officers patrolling the network by boarding the buses across the region – helping to improve the safety of customers and staff and reassure those who may feel vulnerable.
PC Fishlock from the Force’ Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Team said: “For a number if years North Wales Police have worked closely with Arriva and we are once again, extremely grateful to them for their support with our latest campaign.
“Unfortunately, we know that some bus service users witness unacceptable and anti-social behaviour which is deemed intimidating and threatening – this often involves service users who have a disability or who are elderly being subjected to verbal abuse.
“By having these posters on permanent display, we want to send a clear message to the community that neither the police nor Arriva will tolerate anti-social hate crime of any kind, and any perpetrators will be held accountable and will be dealt with robustly.
“Many vulnerable and elderly members of the community heavily rely on the bus service and for them to experience intimidating behaviour is unacceptable.
“Our message is clear – abuse, in any form, will not be tolerated and victims are encouraged to report anything that makes them feel uncomfortable. Let’s all stand together against hate.”
Anthony Holyfield, Arriva Buses North Wales Operational Manager said: “It is imperative that people feel safe travelling on our buses, and we send a clear message to perpetrators that hate crime will not be tolerated.
“Arriva takes a zero-tolerance approach to all forms of abuse on the network, and we are working hard to ensure that our customers and staff feel safe and have the confidence to report any incident knowing that it will be taken seriously and investigated.”
The campaign has the full support of Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman who emphasised the importance of reporting matters to the police. She said: “Everyone has the right to use public transport without fear of abuse because of their disability, gender identity, race, sexual orientation, religion or any other characteristic.
“We’re so grateful to Arriva for once again, supporting our campaign and want to reassure all bus users who use the Arriva service across the region that police will be ready to respond and will have access to CCTV which will give us vital evidence to identify suspects and make arrests.”
Social media users can follow the #HateHurtsWales hashtag for campaign updates.
