THURROCK Police officers have been getting about the borough interacting with faith and minority ethnic groups.

Recently Community Support Officers (PCSOs) attended a citizens' awareness cultural event at Cowdray Hall, West Thurrock which was organised by local

BIOT Citizens are direct descendants of people born in the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), also known as the Chagos Islands, and who are not already British citizens or British Overseas Territory citizens (BOTCs).

Chagossians are former residents of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) who were removed from the islands that formed BIOT between the mid-1960s and early-1970s.

The event featured music, traditional dances and much more. Local community leaders were on hand and they and officers heard the shared experiences of the BIOT citizens and the issues concerning the,

Officers provided crime prevention advice and discussed the different methods of reporting crimes and issues of concern.

CI Atkin at Grays Baptist Church.

District Commander Chief Inspector Atkin also continued his ongoing work with local faith groups as part of 'Operation Sacred', a project created as a means of engaging and building relationships.

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CI Atkin recently spoke to the congregation at Grays Baptist Church and discussed the importance of reporting crimes and the impact under reporting has on victims and potential future victims.

He told the congregation hate crimes are often under-reported and so it's important that police gather information, in order to better understand the impact of these crimes within the communities and work collectively and develop working strategies to tackle them.

A force statement said: "Community Policing Team officers will continue to attend places of worship, discuss local issues and concerns and offer crime prevention advice to those in need."