A racist incident is any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person. Racism can take place in many forms, such as:
At CRISP we aim to support victims of racial harassment and make sure that relevant information, support, counselling, advice and assistance are available to them. We can visit you in your home, be there with you during court cases, when you give statements, or put you in touch with other organisations that can offer help (see Useful Contacts).
We encourage victims to report incidents and we keep confidential incident records. We have time to listen to your case and encourage you to come and see us on a regular basis.
We assist local communities by helping to reduce racial harassment through cultural awareness and educational projects such as the weekly drop-in surgery at the Akeman Street Community Rooms every Tuesday afternoon from 2pm to 3.30pm.
We encourage a multi-agency approach and work closely with local government and police departments for more effective communication.
CRISP is a non-profit making project of the Cambridge Ethnic Community Forum, which is a charity funded by Comic Relief, Cambridge City and Cambridge County Council. We look forward to receiving your comments about CRISP.
CRISP Annual
Report for the year 2004
CRISP has provided support and help in the following cases since the start of the year : -
Assisted a black lady with a complaint against the Metropolitan Police. The complaint related to a lack of Police action after she made a complaint to them about the assault. Letters written on her behalf and a meeting arranged with an Inspector from the Met Police.
A black lady from Arbury Complained of racial harassment by a neighbour. The City Council became involved and the neighbour has moved.
An Asian lady from Cambourne reported that her car had been damaged twice on her drive. She thinks the damage was racially motivated. The Police have been informed but have been unable to find the perpetrator.
A muslim family complained of racial harassment from a neighbour in Newmarket Road area. The Police were involved and the person causing the problem has moved away.
A Chinese family in Trumpington complained off racial harassment. Eggs and stones throw at house by children. Police informed.
A man who sells burgers from a van in Cherry Hinton complained of verbal racial abuse from customers. The abuse increased after well publicized terrorist attacks. Police informed.
A Turkish man from a South Cambridgeshire village complained about the way the Police handled a complaint he made to them of racism. Contacted Police who re opened the case. A file was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service. No prosecution because time limit for prosecution had expired.
A traveller family from St Ives complained about son being racially abused at School and lack of action by School. Police, victim support and Multi Cultural Education Department involved.
A black lady from Trumpington complained of racial harassment from a neighbour in flat above. City Council and Environmental Health Department involved. The lady was eventually moved to another flat.
An Asian shop owner injured in a robbery at his house in Mill Road when two men forced his door open and attacked him with an iron bar. His shop takings for the day were stolen and he received hospital treatment for his injuries.
An Asian employee at a large supermarket complained of racial harassment at work from another employee. The incident was resolved by the Personnel Department of the store to his satisfaction.
An Asian lady complained the Asian manager of a
Cambridge Gym and beauty salon racially harassed her after she complained to him
about poor treatment, which left her with bruising around her eyes. She is
taking legal action against the Gym for personal injury.
A black lady from St Ives complained that she was racially
discriminated against by a shop assistant from Super Drug. She was overcharged
by assistant and when she challenged the assistant was ordered out of the shop and
told she was banned from the shop in future. Super Drug head office was informed of
the incident and promised more staff training.
Attended Crown Court with Chinese victim of assault. He was
assaulted whilst working in a convenience store in Cambridge. His assailant was
charged with causing grievous bodily harm and has now received a long prison
sentence.
Attended a planning committee meeting and spoke in support
of a planning application by a member of the Pakistani community.
An Asian man complained of racial discrimination by
Cambridge Police after being rejected for a post as a Police Community Support
Officer. He had applied more than and claimed the reasons for objection were
inconsistent. A meeting with the Police was arranged and a further meeting is
taking place to discuss recruitment procedures for minority ethnic applicants.
A man of mixed race parents complained of very overt racism
at work in a factory in Wisbech. He had been suspended from work for allegedly
sleeping on a night shift. He was advised to seek Union representation at his
disciplinary hearing. He was unhappy at the way the hearing was conducted and
appealed against the decision of the management. The Human Resources Department
was contacted on his behalf about the racist actions on the shop floor. They
conducted an internal inquiry and various employees have been spoken to. At the
disciplinary appeal the management removed the warnings given to the man at the
first hearing and offered him a job on another shift or another plant. The
company have asked the Forum for advice in respect of staff training.
An Asian family living at Cherry Hinton complained about
having bottles thrown at their house on several occasions and racist abuse
shouted at them. A similar incident has occurred to another Asian family living
in the same area. This family have been subjected to racial abuse from the same
person for the past 5 years. As a result of this abuse the son of the family has
been given medication for depression, he is now away at University and refuses
to come home because of the racism he and his family have been subjected to. He
has been urging his parents to move house to get away from the racism they have
been suffering. The Police have become involved and a young man living in the
same area has now been arrested and charged with a racial offence.
An incident occurred on one night in September where 5
Asian shops in Mill Road had windows smashed. The incidents were reported to the
Police but to date the perpetrators have not been found.
A black lady complained about a South Cambridgeshire School
that her young son attends. She has been abused by another parent and feels
because of her ethnicity the School is not dealing with her complaints properly.
The Director of Education has been contacted and the matter is still ongoing.
A Chinese family in Trumpington have complained about a
builder who has stopped work on their house. They feel the builder is treating
them badly because of their ethnicity. The have also been subjected to racial
taunts and have had stones and eggs thrown at their house. The front door has
also been kicked in by a person or persons unknown.
An Asian family living in temporary housing complained
about the conditions they were living under. They were evicted from a council
house because of rent arrears and put into a shared house. There have been
problems with other tenants calling them racist names. The Police have been
involved and a tenant at the house was moved out. The situation of this family
is still being monitored.
A black lady complained about the treatment of her daughter
at a School in Cambridge. She feels her daughter is being singled out by staff
because she is black and not being treated as fairly as the other children in
her class. Attended a meeting at the School with the mother and School
Authorities. An action plan has been agreed by all parties and will be
monitored. A further meeting will take place in a few months time.
An Asian family living in Cherry Hinton have complained
that their 13 year old son is being picked on by local youths and racially
abused and attacked. On one occasion he was threatened by one youth with a
knife. The Police are involved and have taken a statement from the boy. The
Police action will be monitored.
A Muslim family in Ditton Fields, Cambridge has been
singled out by the local refuse collectors. When the refuse collectors saw the
family were Asian they started to be difficult and on some occasions refused to
empty the bin and on others took some items out and left them saying the bin was
too full, whereas other neighbours bins which were overflowing were emptied
without any problems. One of the refuse collectors on another occasion saw the
family at Tesco’s store and tried to cause the family problems by complaining
to the security staff that they were illegally parked. The family has also had
damage caused to their car when it has been parked outside their house. The City
Council Services Department has been contacted and have visited the family. They
are now monitoring the refuse collector’s actions.
A black man stopped his car near a Cambridge School to
allow his daughter to get out. An elderly woman from a house nearby then
verbally racially abused him. The Police were contacted and the woman was been
seen by them and warned about her behaviour.
Talk given to Cambridge Victim Support group.
Talk given to Court Witness Support group.
Arbury
Community Centre for open meeting re Race Relations Amendment Act and workshops
on 31st January.
Attended a meeting of the Black Racial Attack Independent
Network in Birmingham on 6th March.
Regular Open Out meetings.
Cambridgeshire Hate Crime meetings.
Cambridgeshire Infastructure meetings.
Following research in Fenland a report was prepared for the
District Council Safety Partnership on the safety of Minority Ethnic Communities
in that area.
The first payment of the Comic Relief funding was received
in August. Further payments will be released each 6 months for the next 3 years.
An application for a further years funding has been submitted to the Cambridgeshire County Council for the year 2005.