The Halo Project works women at the heart of their communities.
They are often the best placed to recognise early warning signs of radicalisation.
This can include noticing changes in people in the home or community which might be of concern – whether that is in terms of drug addiction, gang involvement, or recruitment to terrorism.
However, Muslim women have been identified as having little contact or interaction with the police.
NPCC-commissioned research Assessing the Effects of Prevent Policing highlighted this.
Safer in Communities project
The Halo SIC (Safer in Communities) Project will involve the BME community and wider groups to engage with the issue of radicalisation and extremism.
It will provide safe open spaces and constructive dialogue looking at the signs, issues and support available for those at risk. The project will provide the following:-
- Community Workshop. By engaging with constituted and informal groups within Cleveland workshops will be provided which will highlight the risks, attitudes and barriers for individuals.
- Virtual Community Network. A web-based platform will be developed for forums and information networks. They can support worried or concerned community members. This will include a campaign to report concerns within the community. There will also be “SIC” banner stands left in community centres which will be rotated across Cleveland to raise the awareness of the initiative.
- Round Table meeting. Learning from the project and subject experts will be brought together. They will share good practice to understand the issues affecting communities living in Cleveland.
- Islamaphobia Hate Crime “SIC” reporting. The project will raise awareness of islamphobic and hate crimes. In addition, it will show how to report crimes and identify what barriers exist for BME communities.
The project links into a number of other projects that the PCC has supported. They include work around increasing the reporting of incidents by the BME community, specifically hate crime.