Five 'race hate' reports a day across North East
Five ‘race hate’ crimes a day are being made in the Northumbria Police area, according to new figures.
Home Office data reveals Northumbria Police recorded 1,858 crimes in 2019-20 – the latest figures available – which is an increase of 78% compared to the 2015-16 figure of 1,043.
Nationally, police recorded 76,070 racial hate crimes in 2019-20 – more than 200 a day, and the highest number since comparable records began in 2011-12.
The figures were released as the nation reacts to the online racist abuse suffered by three of England's footballers.
Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka all received online racist abuse after missing penalties in the Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy.
Charity Victim Support said it was "appalled" by the abuse, and that it followed a rise in reported race hate crime nationally during the pandemic.
The Home Office say the rise was partly down to improvements in recording and an awareness of hate crime.
Jo Parks, services director at Victim Support, said: "We’ve been concerned to see rising reports of race hate crime throughout the pandemic.
"These crimes have had a damaging impact on victims' safety and sense of selfworth, which can take years to re-build."
In the wake of the racist abuse of the England footballers, a petition – which now has more than 660,000 signatures – seeks to make it a legal requirement for anyone opening a new social media account to provide a verified form of ID.
As of Wednesday, 28,276 people in the North East had put their names to it.