More hate crimes recorded by police

ROYAL BOROUGH: The number of racially or religiously aggravated crimes recorded in Windsor and Maidenhead has increased by more than 50 per cent compared to the previous 12 months.

Figures from Thames Valley Police show the force recorded 207 offences from December 2020 to November 2021, up from 132 over the previous year.

This represented an increase of 56.8 per cent.

The number of racist incidents recorded by police in the Royal Borough also increased from 211 in 2019/20 to 310 in 2020/21, a rise of 46.9 per cent.

Neighbouring Slough saw an almost 30 per cent year-on-year rise in the number of racially or religiously aggravated crimes recorded by police.

A total of 382 offences were recorded from December 2020 to November 2021 compared to 295 over the previous 12 months.

Figures also revealed the number of homophobic crimes recorded in Windsor and Maidenhead increased by 33.3 per cent in the 12 month period.

Police recorded 44 homophobic hate crimes, up from 33 the previous 12 months.

The number of homophobic hate crimes recorded in Slough in 2020/21 fell from 66 to 45, a 31.8 per cent year-on-year decrease.

Police recorded 334 sexual offences in Windsor and Maidenhead over the period, up from 258 the previous year, a rise of 29.5 per cent.

The number of reported rapes increased from 92 to 115, a rise of 25 per cent.

A total of 178 residential burglaries were recorded by police in Windsor and Maidenhead, down 47.7 per cent from the 340 reported in 2019/20.

Slough also saw a significant fall in this type of offence with 300 residential burglaries reported compared to 418 the previous year.