Hate crime figures released – and numbers have soared

Forces in England and Wales recorded 52,528 of the offences in 2014/15 – an increase of 18% compared to the previous year.

He added: “Of particular concern is disability related hate crime reporting”.

A new program aims to increase reporting of hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people.

Hate crime charity Galop has reported a surge in cases – with the number of those seeking help doubling over the course of this year.

Chair of the Hate Crime Criminal Justice Board Cymru, Mark Warrender said: “We welcome the increase in recorded hate crimes across the Welsh forces as a positive indicator that communities are feeling confident to report hate crime to us”. Hate crime against disabled people has nearly tripled in the last five years.

He added: “Bald statistics can never tell the whole story, but regardless of why the figures are up, if we have more reports of hate crime, we need more resources to investigate and stop it”.

“As well as the awful immediate impact of violence and harassment, too often hate crime leaves disabled people isolated and vulnerable, living in fear, and cut off from their family and friends because of the ongoing threat of violence and retaliation”, he said.

The Hate Crime Network also supports victims and witnesses to make a formal report to Thames Valley Police and/or offer appropriate advice and information to those victims requiring further emotional support.

“That’s why I have invited important Muslim and non-Muslim figures to join the new Community Engagement Forum, so I can hear directly about their work in our communities, the challenges they face and so that they can be part of our One Nation strategy to defeat it”, Cameron said.

The Commons’ cross-party home affairs select committee also looked at the issue in 2013 and concluded in a report: “Current recording practises are inadequate to give an accurate picture of the extent to which reported crime is committed over the internet”. David Cameron noted that crime against Muslims will be recorded separately henceforth. In other words, the data seems to suggest that a few victims will suffer both in the context of racial and religious abuse and the link factor between all of the major national and global trigger points are that Muslim communities were targeted.

He said: ‘Do you know that in our country today: even if they have exactly the same qualifications, people with white-sounding names are almost twice as likely to get call backs for jobs than people with ethnic-sounding names?’ It shows the work of GMP, local authorities and other agencies, working together with the voluntary sector and the community, is giving more people the confidence to speak out, knowing that they will be taken seriously.

Detective Inspector Lindsay Harbour said: “We want to raise awareness of hate crime and encourage people to report incidents”.

“However, behind increased reporting there is an underlying trend which shows that hate crime in all its forms is increasing”.