RACE HATE CRIME RATE SOARS BY 50% IN REGION
LATEST figures have revealed rising numbers of racially or religious aggravated crimes recorded in Cheshire.
Data released by the Office For National Statistics (ONS) showed that between 2012 and 2017, the rate rocketed by 52%.
In 2012-13, Cheshire police recorded 433 offences, rising to 658 in 2016-17.
Most of the incidents related to harassment or causing public fear, alarm or distress.
In 2016-17, there were 565 such crimes recorded, accounting for 86% of all offences.
Among the other cases there were 29 assaults with injury, 49 assaults without injury and 15 incidents of criminal damage.
The data revealed that of 15 homicides recorded in Cheshire in 2013-2016, 13 of the victims were white, one was black and one was ‘unknown’.
Stop and search figures showed that black residents in the county were nearly five times more likely to be targeted than white people - with 9.4 per 1,000 black people stopped and searched compared to 2.2 white people.
Asian people were the least likely to be stopped and searched in Cheshire on 1.4 per 1,000, with mixed race residents higher on 4.4 and Chinese or other the same as white people on 2.2.
White residents in Cheshire are the least likely to be arrested, with 14 arrests per 1,000 heads of population.
This compares to 87.1 for black people, 17 for Asians, 21.1 mixed and 16.1 for Chinese and ‘other’.
About one in six stops of white people for suspected drug offences resulted in an arrest and one in four for black people, one in three for Asians, just under one in four for mixed and one in four for Chinese and other.
There were 14 stops for suspected firearms offences, all of which involved white suspects and resulting in three arrests.
No county breakdown of rates of offences and ethnicity as published as part of the release, but the Ministry Of Justice said ethnic minorities were ‘over-represented’ in the criminal justice system (CJS) at a national level.
It was recently revealed that black people are far more likely to be stopped and searched for suspected drug possession than white people despite being less likely to be carrying drugs.
In addition, the MOJ statistical bulletin’s report said arrests of black, mixed and Chinese or other defendants were less likely to lead to a conviction than for white people.
The report’s author said: “In general, nonwhite ethnic groups appear to be over-represented at most stages throughout the CJS, compared with the white ethnic group, though this is not universal and does not appear to increase as they progress through the CJS.
“Among non-white ethnic groups, black and mixed individuals were often the most over-represented.
“Trends over time for each ethnic group have tended to mirror overall trends, with little change in relative positions between ethnic groups.”
They added: “White defendants have consistently had the highest conviction ratio for indictable offences out of all ethnic groups since 2012 (ranging from 80% to 86%), with the exception of Chinese or other in 2015 (84%).
“The relative rate index indicates there is a statistically significant disparity in the rates at which defendants from nonwhite ethnic groups are convicted when compared to white defendants.”