Fighting hate crime in Manchester

Today's Jewish Chronicle has an interview with Chief Constable Peter Fahy of Greater Manchester Police. GMP have made great efforts to tackle antisemitic hate crime in recent years, and work closely with CST and the Jewish community.

The JC quotes Chief Constable Fahy emphasising the need to report incidents to CST and the police, while also working to improve relations between communities:

In an exclusive interview, Chief Constable Peter Fahy said individuals must be more proactive in reporting incidents, and pledged to increase police numbers on campus significantly to thwart attacks such as the one suffered by Israel's deputy ambassador at Manchester University last month.

Mr Fahy, 50, and two years into his job, said: "It's very, very clear, the level of hate crime towards the Jewish community is unacceptable. Stopping it is more of an issue of dealing with the causes of it.

"We are seeing quite a lot through ignorance, which turns into antisocial behaviour. Clearly, some people who do it have an ideological hatred towards Jews. That's worrying. We would like to do more to make sure events in the Middle East don't play out on the streets of Manchester. My message to the Jewish community would be to report issues to the CST, to be willing to make statements and continue the work of lots of individuals to strengthen community relations whatever tensions exist, so as not to inflame them."