Bus company backs South Yorkshire Police hate crime campaign

PC Sam Bush and Simon Middleton, from First

Bus company First is displaying the posters as part of a 'hate hurts' campaign run by South Yorkshire Police, which aims to highlights how victims are made to feel and urges witnesses to report it.

PC Sam Bush said: “Everyone at South Yorkshire Police is committed to tackling hate and we will continue to work with different partnership groups and organisations to achieve this."

Andy Simpson, head of business performance at First South Yorkshire, added: “We believe that by continuing to work closely with South Yorkshire Police, local councils, other service providers and the local community, we will provide customers with the confidence to report incidences of hate crime, and by doing so, we can put an end to these acts.

“As part of this campaign we will continue to display awareness posters on our vehicles and offer our buses as a safe haven to any member of the public who finds themselves in distress. All our buses have radios that can seek specialist assistance from the police.

“We do not tolerate any acts of hate on any of our services and will proactively investigate any allegations that are received. We’d urge anyone with information on acts of hate crime to report it to the police immediately.”

Stagecoach Supertram and the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive are also supporting the campaign by displaying posters on trams and at transport interchanges across the county.

SYPTE executive director, Stephen Edwards, added: “Providing a safe environment for passengers and staff is our upmost priority and hate crime on and around public transport will not be tolerated.

"We are working in partnership to raise awareness of hate crime and how to report it, and to help police pursue and prosecute all offenders.

"Travel South Yorkshire Interchanges are fitted with 24 hour CCTV, have help points, and are staffed by customer service ambassadors that have direct contact with the police. We encourage anyone that experiences or witnesses an incident to report it as soon as possible, to help tackle hate and prevent it in our community.”

Call 101 to report offences.