APCC Responds to Hate Crime Statistics
Hardyal Dhindsa, APCC lead on Hate Crime and Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Derbyshire, responds to annual statistics published by the Home Office today on hate crime:
“As APCC lead on hate crime, I am deeply concerned by 29% increase in hate crime that has been reported in statistics released by the Home Office today.
“I am particularly concerned by the spikes revealed in incidences of hate crime following national events, such as the EU referendum, as well as terrorist attacks. We must not allow acts of terror, such as those that took place in Westminster, London Bridge and Manchester, to induce further acts of hate.
“However, the publication reveals that one likely cause for the increase in all five strands of centrally monitored hate crime is improvements in recording by the police. I am encouraged to know that forces are making progress on this, as it helps us to understand the scale of this type of crime. Indeed, PCCs and forces are currently driving forward innovative ways to address the problem of hate crime across England and Wales.
“All PCCs would like to encourage victims to come forward and report incidents, confident in the knowledge that the police will take their experiences seriously. Victims are also able to report what happened to them to victims’ support services, with no obligations to report to the police.”
Notes to editors
- Hardyal Dhindsa is the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) national lead on Hate Crime and the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Derbyshire.
- To mark the launch of Hate Crime Awareness Week 2017 (14-21 October), last week Hardyal Dhindsa published a blog, touching upon his personal experience of being the victim of hate crime, and also initiatives being driven forward by PCCs and forces to combat hate crime.