Fewer hate crimes recorded in Hertfordshire last year

Fewer hate crimes were recorded by police in Hertfordshire last year, despite a rise in incidents across England and Wales.

Nationally offences have hit their highest level on record, with racially-motivated incidents rising by more than 4,000.

Home Office data shows 1,587 hate crimes were recorded by Hertfordshire Constabulary in 2019-20.

That was down 1 per cent on the previous year, when 1,600 incidents were reported, but far higher than the 874 crimes recorded in 2014-15.

It was a different picture across England and Wales, where police recorded 105,090 hate crimes in the last year – a record high, and an 8 per cent rise on the previous year's figure.

Reports can include racially or religiously motivated assault, harassment and criminal damage.

More than 75 per cent of reports in Hertfordshire related to race, while 13 per cent featured hostility towards someone's sexual orientation.

"We believe many hate crimes go unreported,” said Hertfordshire Constabulary’s hate crime lead, Detective Chief Inspector Pete Frost.

“We want to increase the number of people reporting offences against them so we can do something about it, so we can better understand the scale of the problem, and so victims can receive support from hate crime officers.

“Hate crimes and incidents can have a severe impact on the victim and on the wider community in which they occur and will not be tolerated in Hertfordshire. Any reported to police will be taken seriously and dealt with sensitively.”

You can report hate crime to Hertfordshire Police online at herts.police.uk/report or online through the True Vision website. Alternatively, you can speak to an operator in the Force Communications Room via an online web chat at herts.police.uk/contact or by calling 101.

Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton, hate crime lead for the National Police Chiefs’ Council, said it is concerning to see that people across England and Wales are still being targeted for who they are.

“Over recent years police have worked hard to improve our response to hate crime, including better recording of offences and more training for officers," he added.

“Everyone has the right to live their lives without fear of being attacked, either physically or verbally. Police take all reports of threats and abuse seriously and we will work to bring perpetrators to justice."

The Home Office said the national increase can be put down to improvements in recording and awareness of hate crime, but added genuine rises after events such as the EU referendum in 2016 and terror attacks the following year have also contributed.

Race hate crimes accounted for 72 per cent of the total last year, after rising to 76,070 from 72,041 in 2018-19.

A separate report published by the Home Office, looking at trends during the coronavirus pandemic, warned that racially or religiously motivated hate crimes in June were a third higher than the previous year and remained high in July.

The Home Office said those who commit “hateful attacks should feel the full force of the law”.

For more information about where to report hate crime visit hertsagainsthate.org.