Fewer than one in 10 race hate incidents results in conviction
FEWER than one in 10 reported race hate incidents in Northern Ireland results in a conviction, official figures show.
It has led to calls for more to be done to reassure minority communities that they can feel safe.
According to PSNI statistics, since April 2014 more than 1,000 racist incidents a year have been reported.
Not all hate-motivated incidents will result in the recording of a crime.
The statistics show that in the six-year period, 4,358 racially motivated crimes were recorded by the PSNI.
That includes 626 race hate crimes in the 12 months to March this year.
However, between 2015 and 2019 the number of court convictions in cases where race was a motivational factor totalled 363.
Although the figures are not directly comparable — they relate to financial and calendar years — they do show a consistlives ent pattern of most crimes not leading to a conviction.
SDLP policing spokeswoman Dolores Kelly called for more to be done to tackle racist hate crimes.
Her plea comes after thousands of people gathered at anti-racism protests in Belfast and Londonderry recently.
The protests, which have also been held across the UK and Republic, were sparked by the killing of African-american man George Floyd by a police officer in the United States.
Mrs Kelly said: “The Black Matter movement has shone a light on systemic discrimination against black and minority ethnic communities across the world.
“But it is not just something that happens elsewhere, we have a deep-rooted problem with discrimination and racist hate here that needs to be addressed.
“Since 2014 there have been more than 1,000 racist hate incidents reported to police every year. And yet annually there are less than 100 cases that result in conviction.
“We absolutely need to do more to assure people from black and minority ethnic communities that they will be protected.”
We are the only part of the UK without specific hate crime laws. A review of legislation is under way.
The PSNI has previously stressed it has a bigger role in addressing race hate crimes, with Chief Superintendent Emma Bond insisting recently it is incumbent on the organisation, “our partners and wider communities, to all play the part that we can to make that come to an end”.