Police Information

Chief Constables Pledge

Mon, September 24, 2001

Source: Avon and Somerset Police

Vigorous Response for Racial or Religiously motivated Crime

Avon and Somerset Chief Constable Steve Pilkington today pledged a vigorous response to anybody involved in racially or religiously-motivated criminal incidents in the wake of last week’s terrorist incidents in the United States.

The Chief Constable spoke out after a number of reported incidents in communities in the Avon and Somerset force area.

And Mr Pilkington appealed to right-minded people to ensure calm across the Avon and Somerset area in light of the current situation.

The Chief Constable said: “We have a good track record of tolerance in Avon and Somerset – and we will not allow people with extreme views to exploit the current situation in relation to events in the US.

“Many people who are visibly different in our community are here because they have been persecuted in their own countries.

“Avon and Somerset is a police service for all the people – and we will be vigorous in our response against anyone exploiting the international situation for their own views. In short, we simply won’t tolerate it.

“People have a right to live free from the fear of crime and we will continue to do everything in our power to ensure that.”

Avon and Somerset Constabulary has a long record of robustly investigating such crimes, and all incidents brought to the attention of the police are being positively investigated.

The Chief Constable, who was due to visit a mosque in Bristol today, added: “I want all members of our community to be clear about how we will view any incidents of this nature.

“I want them to know that we would actively encourage anyone with any information whatsoever about such incidents to report it to us so that we can deal swiftly, directly and confidentially with these matters.

“I want community leaders to know that if they have concerns then they should let us know so that we can meet with them to reassure them of our response.”