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Hate crimes in England, Wales up by a fifth in 2015: Home Office

Xinhua, October 14, 2016 Adjust font size:

Hate crimes in England and Wales are being reported to police at the rate of more than 1,000 a week, a report Thursday from the government Home Office revealed.

The report shows racist or religious hate-crime incidents recorded by the police jumped 41 percent in the weeks after Britain voted on June 23 to leave the European Union.

In July there were almost 5,500 hate crimes reported to police, compared to 3,886 in July 2015. The figures started to decline in August, but remain higher than last year, the report shows. Home Office figures for 2015-16 have risen by 19 percent to 62,518, compared to 2014-15.

The vast majority, 79 percent of the total, or almost 49,500, were logged by police as race hate crimes. Just under 7,200 (12 percent) were sexual orientation hate crimes, 4,400 (7 percent) were religious hate crimes and the rest were disability or transgender hate crimes.

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton, the National Police Chiefs' Council's (NPCC) spokesman on hate crime, said: "Numbers of hate crime incidents have fallen from the spike seen after the EU referendum but we still believe that many hate crimes are still not reported to us."

"We are determined to play our part in addressing hate crimes in our society, supported by government and third sector partners," said Hamilton.

The Home Office report outlines that this increase is significantly boosted by better police reporting systems for hate crime. As people have more confidence in reporting procedures, they are more likely to report offences they may have previously kept to themselves.

The NPCC said more than half of all hate crimes were public order offences, which include public fear, alarm or distress. Of the total, 33 percent involved violence against the person, with a quarter of the victims suffering physical injury. Endit