Examples of good practice

Good practice to promote reporting: Huntingdon Open Out Scheme

Hunts Mind is a Reporting Centre for the Open Out scheme - a third-party reporting scheme which enables victims and witnesses of hate crime the opportunity to report and resolve incidents with or without police involvement.

There are a number of reasons why some people feel uncomfortable reporting hate crime directly to the police. For example, a person may not feel confident that the police will take the appropriate action. They may fear that making a complaint will make the situation worse. They may worry they will not be believed or taken seriously.

Open Out was created to tackle these kinds of problems and is committed to  ensuring that all underrepresented or disadvantaged communities are able to report hate crime incidents in confidence and feel they are supported and taken seriously. Hunts Mind works in partnership with the Huntingdon Open Out scheme and provides a safe environment for people to report an incident. They provide information and advice to their clients, work to improve police relations and help people with mental health problems get equal access to justice.

Our Recommendation

Local third-party reporting systems - such as anonymous hate crime reporting schemes, or reporting through an advocate - must be made available across the country.

More needs to be done to provide a safe space for people to report crimes against them. Even where a person chooses not to report a crime, it is important that they have a means of making sense of and coming to terms with what has happened to them. Hate crime reporting schemes allow people to talk through their experience in confidence and offer support to those who choose to report to the police. Such schemes should reach out to people with mental distress who may be vulnerable to crime.

Good practice in mental health awareness training

Canterbury Christ Church University Mental Health Nursing Department and Kent Student Officer Programme have developed training which has the input of a mental health service user consultant. The aim of the programme is to promote innovative ways for police to work with people who have mental health problems which help break down the barriers people experience when trying to access justice and promotes greater understanding of those who have experienced stigma and discrimination.

As part of their policing degree curriculum, police cohorts are trained in factors relating to social exclusion, communication styles, differing models of mental distress and the impact of poor mental health. The training contains questions, exercises and interactive media to share the experiences of people with mental health problems who engage with the justice system. This is to ensure that future experiences are treated with empathy and sensitivity.

This has proved very successful and helped to foster positive partnership working between all involved. It has promoted the justice system as a path to social inclusion. It has also proved successful in raising awareness of the reality of living with emotional distress in today's society and creating empathy with the experience of others.

Our recommendation

Police training should acknowledge the complexity of the relationships people have with the police and challenge disproportionate stereotypes about mental ill health and violence.

In a deprived area with high rates of crime and mental distress, a person who commits a crime or is arrested under the Mental Health Act one day may well witness or be a victim of crime the next. Training should highlight Mind's finding that people are more likely to have contact with the police as a victim than under arrest.

There are more examples in the report:

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If you are aware of any other examples of good practice please contact the Campaigns team on 020 8215 2424 or via action@mind.org.uk

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