Plans for Pride celebrations have had to be altered this year – but that hasn’t stopped officers and staff from Lincolnshire Police celebrating diversity.
As with other celebrations over previous weeks since lockdown, this will be marked differently this year, with Pride marches being postponed until next year and other activities taking place online.
While our officers and staff have not been able to attend Pride events in Lincoln and across the county, we at Lincolnshire Police continue to celebrate our diverse workforce and the communities we serve.
Inspector Rachel Harrison said: “Lincoln Pride is always such a wonderful event and we have loved taking part in the celebrations over the past few years. Due to Covid-19 there will not be a Pride event in Lincoln this year, however, some of our community have been and will be organising online events and we will continue to show our support for these events as they are a critical part of the LGBT+ calendar.
“Throughout lockdown, it has been fantastic to see how our communities have adapted to the challenges presented by the virus and subsequent lockdown restrictions.
“This year’s ‘Virtual Pride’ celebrations are fine examples of how we can be unified behind a strong, positive message, despite being unable to celebrate as usual.
“I am in no doubt that next year’s celebration will be spectacular and I very much look forward to joining in the festivities.”
Deputy Chief Constable Jason Harwin added: “As an employer of choice, we are committed as a force to ensuring we represent the people we serve.
“Events across the world over recent months have shown how divides can cause serious social and physical unrest. Some of our varied communities here in Lincolnshire have put their voices to a number of those global movements, which is why we continue to focus on all aspects of diversity within our workforce.
“We remain committed to making sure our staff, as well as the policing we deliver, focusses on equality and inclusion. Through this, we hope to ensure that our workforce is representative of the communities we serve and understands the issues that are important to them.
“We constantly attract talent from a huge variety of backgrounds.
“Our interest lies in the individual’s ability to serve the public without fear of favour.
“I take a personal interest in ensuring all our networks and staff associations have a voice that is heard and making sure we learn from best practice.
“It is incredibly important that anyone who is a victim of hate crime reports it to us. We have specially trained officers who will approach cases sensitively and we will always investigate reports of hate crime thoroughly.
“We are here to keep all of our communities safe so they can celebrate the things that matter to them, as well as delivering policing that is representative, fair, and proportionate so we can keep people safe from harm.”
In the current climate, an increasing number of people will turn to video messaging platforms for these online events. Over the month you may see our LGBT+ network engage with these events, being hosted by the local Pride organisers.
You can help keep yourself safe online by following these steps:
- Ensure that your privacy settings for any personal social media accounts are set to the highest levels.
- As ever, be careful when accepting any friend requests.
- Don’t make meetings public. Instead, use a meeting password or use the waiting room feature to control the entry of guests, and make this as complicated as you can.
- Don’t share links to meetings on social media. Provide the link directly to those invited
- Manage screensharing options. Change screensharing to “host only”.
- Keep all software up to date.
If you have been a victim of hate crime, have witnessed a hate crime or need any information on what a hate crime is, please do not hesitate to speak to us by calling 101.
If you are a victim of hate crime, please call 101. If you are in an emergency, always dial 999.
Lincolnshire Pride
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