Rise in hate crime in Dorset
Cases are up 34%
Hate crime in Dorset has shot up by 34per cent in the year to date – in line with national averages.
The county’s police and crime panel heard that nationally some forces were reporting increase of almost 60 per cent while the lowest was 11 per cent.
Simon Bullock, the police and crime commissioner’s chief officer, says the figures have been under-recorded across the country for some time and part of the increase may be due to a more realistic recognition of the problem and an increased willingness to report incidents.
He said that, working with other agencies, the police had been encouraging more victims to come forward.
“The expected outcome of all this work is an increase in the level of hate crime reports, which is good.
“Locally between May and September the number of hate crimes went above the expected level and has since returned to its, usual, baseline levels.
“What we have seen, during the pandemic, has been an increase, some of it fuelled by ‘fake news’ which has been used in different circles to stoke tensions,” he said.
Panel members were told that around three quarters of all hate crime recorded in Dorset were motivated around race or religion, although there had also been lower level increases in disability and gender hate crime.
Cllr Bobbie Dove said everything possible needed to be done to make it easier for people to report hate incidents. She said that for some, just taking that step, was an obstacle to be overcome and help and assurance was needed to make it easier.
Mr Bullock said that during the year the office of the police and crime commissioner, working with Prejudice Free Dorset, had undertaken a range of educational programmes with schools and colleges and had worked with others in supporting and advising those reporting hate crime. Some pilot work had also been carried out in a limited number of workplaces.
He said support was also available for people going through the court process which was an additional problem during the pandemic because for a period of more than three months no local courts were sitting, leading to a backlog of all cases. Mr Bullock said these delays had led to a drop off in the number of cases going before the courts.
Weymouth councillor Peter Barrow has asked to the actions to be monitored and reported back to a future panel meeting.