Notts hate crimes rise by 75% after EU referendum

Police figures from across the country have shown Nottinghamshire has the second highest rise of hate crime in the UK.
New national figures show the rise in hate crimes since the EU referndum, and Nottinghamshire has had the second highest rise in the country (Image by hipsxxhearts via Flickr/CC)New national figures show the rise in hate crimes since the EU referndum, and Nottinghamshire has had the second highest rise in the country (Image by hipsxxhearts via Flickr/CC)
New national figures show the rise in hate crimes since the EU referndum, and Nottinghamshire has had the second highest rise in the country (Image by hipsxxhearts via Flickr/CC)

The figures, taken from every police force in the country show the county experienced a 75 per cent rise in hate crimes, up to 184 incidents in July-September 2016.

Only four forces in the UK saw a drop in hate crimes, while 32 forces said they had the biggest single quarterly rise in the months following the Brexit vote, since records began in 2012.

Nottinghamshire was second highest on the list, after Dorset which saw a 100 per cent increase.on the previous period.

Where Muslim-targeted hate crimes commonly occur (Source: Tell MAMA)Where Muslim-targeted hate crimes commonly occur (Source: Tell MAMA)
Where Muslim-targeted hate crimes commonly occur (Source: Tell MAMA)

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Police & Crime Commissioner Paddy Tipping said: “The number of incidents reported has gone up, especially since Brexit. We’ve seen an increase in reports from Polish and other Eastern European communities and also in reports of faith-based hatred. We have been encouraging people to report hate crime so that we can really gauge the size of the problem, so this rise in the number of reports is a positive rather than a negative thing. However, it is still estimated that only about 30% of incidents are actually reported, so I urge people not to stay silent but to come forward. I know that Nottinghamshire Police is absolutely committed to tackling this type of crime and they take every report seriously.”

World events coincide with spikes in hate crime (Source: Tell MAMA)World events coincide with spikes in hate crime (Source: Tell MAMA)
World events coincide with spikes in hate crime (Source: Tell MAMA)

In 2015-16 Nottinghamshire had the most hate crimes in the East Midlands by far, according to ONS figures. There were 911 incidents in total compared to 537 in Derbyshire and 299 in Lincolnshire. Race-related crimes are the biggest category with 699 incidents over the year.

The figures emerge as a new initiative is launched in Nottinghamshire in partnership with the National Holocaust Centre to challenges prejudice and discrimination.

David Alton, Hate Crime Manager at Nottinghamshire Police, said: "Hate crime is an issue that affects people deeply – it’s a personal attack on someone. Nottinghamshire Police takes all reports of hate crime extremely seriously and we’re delighted to be working with the National Holocaust Centre and Nottingham Trent University to tackle this issue. By educating perpetrators and potential perpetrators, we’re hoping to shift people’s perceptions of the impact of hate crime and encourage them to rethink their behaviour."

Police forces in England and Wales can class five types of racially or religiously aggravated offences as hate crimes including assaults, harassment, public fear, alarm or distress, and other criminal damage. Some forces can identify other types of offences as hate crimes which may affect the numbers. Nottinghamshire Police, for instance, classified some attacks against women as 'misogony' hate crimes last year. These accounted for about two recorded crimes per month.

Where Muslim-targeted hate crimes commonly occur (Source: Tell MAMA)Where Muslim-targeted hate crimes commonly occur (Source: Tell MAMA)
Where Muslim-targeted hate crimes commonly occur (Source: Tell MAMA)

In June last year a report by analysed data from interviews with hate crime perpetrators and determined a number of key hate crime 'influencers' on Twitter, and placed the most prevalent areas outside of London as Birmingham, then Manchester and the Northeast, and then Nottingham and Sheffield.

Shahid Malik of the Muslim victim support group Tell Mama charity said there had been an: "explosion of anti-Muslim hate both online and on our streets".

He added: "With the backdrop of the Brexit vote and the spike in racist incidents that seems to be emerging, the government should be under no illusions: things could quickly become extremely unpleasant for Britain’s minorities.

"So today, more than ever, we need our government, our political parties and of course our media to act with the utmost responsibility and help steer us towards a post-Brexit Britain where xenophobia and hatred are utterly rejected."

World events coincide with spikes in hate crime (Source: Tell MAMA)World events coincide with spikes in hate crime (Source: Tell MAMA)
World events coincide with spikes in hate crime (Source: Tell MAMA)

UKIP leader Paul Nuttall has claimed soaring hate crime figures are "fabricated", according to the Mirror.

Police forces mark national rise in hate crimes

Here is the full list of hate crimes in the third quarter of 2016 (Forces which recorded the highest quarterly figures since April 2012 are marked with an asterisk).

:: Dorset 104* (up 100%)

:: Nottinghamshire 189* (up 75%)

:: North Yorkshire 64* (up 68%)

:: West Mercia 247* (up 64%)

:: Devon and Cornwall 220* (up 63%)

:: Leicestershire 213* (up 60%)

:: Kent 277* (up 60%)

:: Lincolnshire 78* (up 59%)

:: Humberside 140* (up 57%)

:: Dyfed-Powys 35* (up 52%)

:: Northumbria 394* (up 48%)

:: West Yorkshire 1,013* (up 46%)

:: Essex 376* (up 41%)

:: Wiltshire 134* (up 38%)

:: Suffolk 123* (up 37%)

:: British Transport Police 620* (up 34%)

:: Hampshire 463* (up 33%)

:: Sussex 385* (up 32%)

:: Hertfordshire 266* (up 30%)

:: Cleveland 159* (up 29%)

:: West Midlands 923* (up 27%)

:: Norfolk 130* (up 25%)

:: Gwent 77 (up 22%)

:: North Wales 56 (up 22%)

:: Lancashire 128 (up 21%)

:: Metropolitan Police 3,356* (up 20%)

:: Thames Valley 286* (up 20%)

:: Avon and Somerset 449* (up 19%)

:: Merseyside 477* (up 19%)

:: Greater Manchester 1,033* (up 19%)

:: Cheshire 195* (up 18%)

:: Durham 66 (up 16%)

:: Cumbria 50 (up 14%)

:: South Wales 276* (up 10%)

:: Cambridgeshire 179* (up 9%)

:: Derbyshire 117 (up 8%)

:: Staffordshire 237* (up 6%)

:: Warwickshire 106* (up 6%)

:: Bedfordshire 133* (up 6%)

:: Northamptonshire 79 (up 4%)

:: South Yorkshire 225 (down 1%)

:: Gloucestershire 55 (down 4%)

:: Surrey 137 (down 7%)

:: City of London 25 (down 7%)

:: Total: 14,295* (up 27%)

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