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Kent police defend gay essay for kids criticism
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Deputy Chief Constable Adrian Leppard Kent police has issued a statement explaining why it is running a gay essay contest for children.
Deputy Chief Constable Adrian Leppard said the series of events demonstrated how "seriously we take hate crime and how committed we are to tackling it."
On Monday this website revealed that our police force is asking children to write an essay as part of a month-long celebration of “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History”.
The story was immediately picked up by national and international newspapers and websites and appeared around the world.
Maidstone MP Ann Widdecombe reflected the view of many of our readers when she said: "I would have thought the police had other things to worry about, like catching burglars.
"Why don't they get kids to write an essay on combating crime? It strikes me as an extraordinary waste of police resources."
The county force, recognised as one of "the most gay friendly employers in Britain", is running a series of events throughout February.
Events include exhibitions, a quiz, a “celebration dinner dance” and the competition which includes an under-14s category.
Children are asked to write a 200-word essay on what this month’s slogan “All different, same respect” means to them. The prize is £25.
Yesterday Kent County Council, which is supporting the month, called KOS Media offices and asked us to remove the location of the quiz night being held by the police.
The county council also appeared to distance itself from the police essay by asking us to make it clear that children's competition was a police initiative.
We contacted police for a comment on Monday to discuss the story before publication and were told only the diversity co-ordinator could comment. No one called back.
On Wednesday, after the story made international news, the press office issued a statement.
It says:
"Kent Police is one of the top forces in Britain in combating hate crime, and is continually looking at ways to improve its service. The force takes a lead on diversity issues and is one of only two forces to be graded excellent for its work in that area by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabularies.
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) history month is a national event which takes place throughout February. As part of that month Kent Police are holding a series of events to help increase awareness.
Kent Police Deputy Chief Constable Adrian Leppard said: 'It's an excellent opportunity for Kent Police to reinforce how seriously we take hate crime and how committed we are to tackling it.
'We are encouraged by the fact that the most recent statistics show that in February 2008 to January 2009, compared to the same period the previous year, Kent has seen a reduction of 5 per cent in hate crime incidents.
"We are also detecting 59 per cent of the hate crime offences reported to us - a rise of 23 per cent.
'It's exceptionally important this trend continues and that we carry on building on the confidence Kent residents have in police, particularly when those residents are part of diverse groups who, historically, have been hard to reach.
'We are aware there is significant under reporting of homophobic bullying in schools so it's vital that we take positive action to tackle these issues whenever we can.'
The force came fourth in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index which is the national benchmark showcasing the UK's top 100 employers for lesbian, gay and bisexual staff.
A spokesperson from Stonewall said: 'One in five gay people has been a victim of homophobic hate crime in the last three years. Stonewall encourages the police to work with communities to drive down all crime.'
Deputy Chief Constable Leppard added: 'We are very proud of the work we do around diversity and the fact that we take an active role in supporting local and national diversity events.'"
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