Racist crimes still a concern despite fall in figures

The number of racist incidents across England and Wales may have fallen according to the latest Home Office figures released yesterday but there is still a big problem in certain parts of the country.

The figures showed that the number of reported incidents fell by seven per cent in 2010 compared to the previous year - 54,872 incidences in 2008/9 which fell to 51,187 in 2010/11.

But Norfolk, Suffolk and the north east of England reported a rise in the number of incidents being reported to police. While Durham's police force recorded 78 less incidents to the 332 in 2008/9, there was an 18 per cent rise in Cleveland while overall, 2,077 incidents were recorded in the north east, an increase of four per cent.

In Norfolk, there was a rise of 29 per cent in race hate crimes while Gwent in Wales saw a 26 per cent rise.

However, figures also showed that disability hate crimes rose by more than a fifth last year. Police recorded 1,569 incidents where the victim thought the alleged crime was motivated by their disability in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, compared with 1,294 in 2009.

Chief Constable Stephen Otter, Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) lead on equality, diversity and human rights, said,

"Hate crimes cause a great deal of fear among victims and communities. We are determined to reduce the harm caused by hate crime and as a service we have listened to victims' groups who have told us that by publishing this data, confidence in the police and the wider criminal justice system would be improved."

He urged anyone who was a victim of hate crime to report it to local police or online at Acpo's True Vision website.

Iqbal Bhana, deputy chair of the government's Hate Crime Advisory Group, said,

"One of the greatest challenges is to reduce the under-reporting of hate crime. It is good to see progress but there is still a long way to go before we can be satisfied that hate crime victims are properly protected."