Are YOU a victim of 'mate crime'? Police issue new warning in Christmas appeal
POLICE have issued a Christmas appeal warning residents about a strange new type of misdemeanour they are calling ‘mate crime’.
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Kent Police are holding a series of workshops designed to help people shop their friends for committing a variety of offences which they might not be aware of - including bullying.
Mate crime is a type of hate crime where vulnerable people are bullied or manipulated by people they consider to be friends - and possibly peer pressured into committing offences.
A series of 'mate crime'-awareness workshops are being held by the North Kent Independent Advocacy Scheme.
Canterbury Police Community Support Officer Dan Mimran has been helping to highlight the crime.
He said: "Mate crime can happen to anyone, but children and adults with learning difficulties are especially vulnerable.
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Mate crime can happen to anyone, but children and adults with learning difficulties are especially vulnerable
"Perpetrators make friends with someone but go on to abuse or exploit that 'friend'.
"This can be anything from low-level bullying to coercing the victims into handing over money or committing crimes."
The workshops are being funded by the National Lottery.
Director of NKIAS Louise Flatman said: "For vulnerable people to stop being victims of bullying, abuse and mate/hate crime they need to have the information to help them recognise when this is happening to them or their peers and to be confident to report any incidents.
"As we could not find any training specifically for vulnerable people we decided to set up our own tailor-made training workshops.
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"The National Lottery has funded our project which allows us to deliver these workshops throughout the whole of Kent free of charge.
"We want people to know that there is always something they can do and there is always someone there to help them."
Kent Police are also asking attendees if they want to become "Bully Beaters" - where they can act as cops' eyes and ears to instances of bullying.
Louise added: "Their role is to look out for incidents of bullying, abuse or mate crime which may be happening to their friends or people they know and to report it to a nominated person.
"Our aim is to have Bully Beater groups in every district of Kent, which we hope will raise the reporting of abuse and stop people being victims."
