Hate crime statistics reveal ‘bleak picture’
ARECORD number of hate crimes were reported in Devon and Cornwall last year – the majority of which were racially motivated.
Anti-racism campaigners say the latest national figures on hate crime paint “a bleak picture” and have joined the Labour Party in accusing the Government of failing to do enough to tackle the problem.
Devon and Cornwall Police recorded 1,848 hate crimes in 2020/21, Home Office figures show – a3% rise from 1,788 the previous year. That was lower than the 9% rise seen among all police forces across England and Wales, excluding Greater Manchester Police, who did not submit data for 2019/20.
The number of recorded hate crimes in Devon and Cornwall has nearly doubled from 961 in 2012/13 – the earliest year with available data.
The Home Office said national increases in recorded hate crime in recent years have been driven by improvements in recording and identification, but they also said there were short-term spikes due to specific events, including the Black Lives Matter protests last summer and far-right counter-protests.
Of the hate crimes recorded in Devon and Cornwall, 1,154 were due to the perception of the victim’s race or ethnicity, which can include xenophobic attacks on asylum seekers and migrants. That was followed by those motivated by someone’s sexual orientation (357), disability (255), religion (95) and transgender identity (71).
Police can flag an offence as being prompted by one or more of these characteristics, meaning the total number of motivating factors will not match the number of offences.
Hate crimes motivated by race, sexual orientation, disability and religion all increased across the area, but the recorded number of those due to transgender identity dropped, from 93 to 71.
Hate crime is defined as “any criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards someone based on a personal characteristic”.
Across England and Wales, police recorded a record 124,091 such offences in 2020-21 – of which 92,052 (74%) were racially motivated. That was followed by 18,596 for sexual orientation (15%), 9,943 for disability (8%), 6,377 for religion (5%) and 2,799 related to transgender identity (2%).
Jabeer Butt, chief executive of the Race Equality Foundation, said the figures painted a “bleak picture” for equality in the UK. He added: “The fact that almost three-quarters of hate crimes were racially motivated shows just how far is left to go towards building a society that is truly tolerant and anti-racist.
“While some of the 9% overall increase in hate crime can be attributed to improvements in crime recording, it is all too clear that too many people still face horrific attacks simply on the basis of who they are. The Government’s Hate Crime Action Plan has clearly fallen short and needs to be revisited as a matter of urgency.”
Labour’s shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said it was unacceptable that so many people are facing abuse and attacks. He added: “The shamefully small number of offenders being brought to justice shows how damaging Tory police cuts have been.”