Cops delighted with rise in race crimes

Racially-motivated crimes in the North have tripled over the last eight years we reveal today . . . yet both the police and ethnic communities are delighted. They say the increase proves there are better relations between the authorities and minority groups, who are now more prepared to complain to cops when targeted.

A Sunday Sun probe found there were 2936 race-hate crimes recorded to March 2006 — the most recent figures available — compared with 954 in 1999. . . a massive 207 per cent increase.

Hari Shukla, of the Newcastle Council of Faith, a multi-faith organisation that promotes understanding between religions, said: “In the past people were reluctant to report these crimes because they feared there would be repercussions. But now the police are actively encouraging people to report these incidents and the communities are also keen to help challenge this type of behaviour. Community leaders and groups are also actively encouraging reporting of such matters as we believe the police are our best friends in the fight against racism.

“There will always be a problem because of groups such as the BNP. But the North East is, in my opinion, better than other UK regions because of the hard work all our communities have done in the past 30 years to promote understanding between different faiths and cultures.”

The figures — supplied by the Ministry of Justice — reveal Cumbria Constabulary recorded the highest rise over the period from 45 incidents to 324 — an astonishing 620pc increase.

Chief Superintendent Ian Cardwell, head of Cumbria Constabulary’s hate crime unit, said: “We take all hate crimes and hate incidents very seriously and have established dedicated officers in each policing area. Consequently, people feel more confident in reporting such crimes and incidents to us, and this is one of the main reasons for the increase.”

Durham Police saw a 380pc increase from 75 to 360. PC Chris Watkins, of its Diversity Unit, commented: “Like many forces Durham has made a real commitment in the last few years to tackling racially-motivated hate crimes. Reporting procedures have been constantly improved through in-house training and the creation of a dedicated Diversity Unit, which includes specialist hate crime officers.”

Meanwhile in Cleveland the number rose from 147 to 545 . . . a 270.7pc increase. Inspector Simon Edwards from the Diversity Unit at Cleveland Police said: “The rise is a result of a number of initiatives, both locally and nationally, to raise the awareness and importance of reporting racially-motivated crime. Scrutiny of the figures actually reveal that significant rises appear to be in the harassment categories and in the criminal damage category. These offences invariably involve verbal abuse or perhaps minor damage not previously reported. This points towards a rise in awareness and better reporting and recording of crime rather than an increase in crime committed.”

Sunday Sun