Sian Berry AM has responded to a Home Office report released today on hate crime in England and Wales which showed a sharp increase in the number of recorded incidents.
The report stated there was a sharp increase in the number of racially or religiously aggravated offences recorded by the police following the EU Referendum. The number of racially or religiously aggravated offences recorded by the police in July 2016 was 41% higher than in July 2015. [1]
Sian said:
“We simply can’t let the increase of these abhorrent crimes since the EU referendum become a permanent feature of our society.
“We need strong action to detect and deter people from hate crime, including investigating incidents thoroughly when they are reported, whether they are online or on the streets.
“In London we have the advantage of a network of CCTV on public transport and this makes it relatively simple to follow up reports of hate crime and speech on the network. My advice to Londoners is to report all hate crime to the police, especially if there is likely to be CCTV to accompany witness statements.”
In 2014/15 overall hate crimes recorded in London by the Metropolitan Police were 13,954 – this year they have risen by 2,612 recorded incidents to 16,566.
London followed the general trend and showed an increased in all five types of recorded hate crimes regarding race, religion, sexual orientation, disability and transgender.
In June Sian questioned Craig Mackey QPM, Deputy Commissioner, Metropolitan Police Service, on how long CCTV from public transport was kept in order to provide evidence of these crimes. [2]
She sought confirmation from Deputy Commissioner Mackey that victims of hate crime should feel comfortable reporting incidents, either directly to the police or through third parties.
Hate crime can be reported to the Police via 101 (always use 999 if anyone is in danger) or online via the True Vision website: http://report-it.org.uk/ which also lists third parties who can handle reports.
Notes to editors
Sian Berry was elected as a Green member of the London Assembly in May 2016. She sits on the London Assembly’s Police and Crime Committee.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hate-crime-england-and-wales-2015-to-2016