Work of PC Stuart Ward in the West Midlands has attracted a number of other forces, in the wake of jail sentence handed out to man who abused West Brom's Romaine Sawyers on WhatsApp. This article contains words some readers may find offensive
Monday 20 December 2021 10:09, UK
Sky Sports News has learned that 12 further police forces in England are considering introducing a specialist officer to try to combat the issue of hate crime in football.
It follows analysis of the work done by the only United Kingdom police officer in that role currently - PC Stuart Ward, who operates in the West Midlands.
PC Ward was the investigating officer in the case of the West Bromwich Albion fan who became the first in the country to be jailed for racially abusing a footballer online - Simon Silwood from Kingswinford called midfielder Romaine Sawyers a "baboon" on WhatsApp and was given an eight-week prison sentence.
"Huge. I can't say how important it was," PC Ward told Sky Sports News.
"It was one of my first cases, when I landed in January. Just going through that whole process, and for the police to work closely with the CPS and the courts, and then for the judge to issue the sentence that he did, eight weeks in custody - to get to that point sets a marker."
Chief Constable Mark Roberts, the national lead for football policing in England, agrees but says there are wider consequences for anyone convicted of a hate crime.
"We will, wherever we can, identify you. And surely the sanction of going to prison is very important. There are broader deterrents too though," he said.
"We've seen people lose university places, we've seen people guilty of this lose employment.
"I think our society is generally pretty unforgiving of hate crime and racial abuse. And so there are broader impacts which gives it wider consequences than just prison."
Landmark convictions such as the Sawyers case have brought PC Ward's work to the attention of other police chiefs.
A number of other forces have sent officers to shadow the operation in the West Midlands, with a view to potentially employing someone in a similar role.
"I think the proof of concept is there," Chief Constable Roberts said. "Fair play to West Midlands, they tried and they're getting results.
"We do encourage other forces, and other forces are speaking to West Midlands, to look at whether it's something that's viable for them, among all the other resource priorities they've got.
"I'd obviously encourage it, because I think it's a great asset. We have an annual conference where we highlight best practice, and we've highlighted that."
