Data for 2006/07 show that year on year, race hate crime has dropped from the 2005/06 total of 102 to a low of 58 total recorded incidents. This represents a decrease of 44 incidents, equivalent to a 43.1% drop.
A breakdown of the figures shows 18 of the attacks were woundings or assaults, 3 intimidation or harrassment, 2 burglary and 1 theft. 30 were criminal damage related.
The release of the statistics coincides with a new police campaign to tackle hate crime.
The advertising campaign aims to encourage the reporting and awareness of hate crimes and incidents and carries a simple message - nobody deserves this and nobody deserves to get away with it.
The advertisements appear on billboards, adshels, buses, posters in retail and community premises, beermats and in washrooms in pubs and clubs across the province, and feature strongly in areas where hate crime has been widely reported, including Dungannon.

Statistics

Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris, Head of Criminal Justice and ACPO Lead for Hate Crime, said that whilst reports of hate crime to police had increased he believed that this was an indication that individuals felt more confident about reporting such incidents to police. However it is believed that there is still under-reporting of such incidents and thus this is the main focus of the campaign.
He said: "Reporting hate crime is one way of ensuring that further incidents are prevented and offenders are brought to justice. We want to encourage people, whether they are victims of a crime or witnesses to an incident, to report it to police. There are a number of methods available to make reports; these are in person, telephone, email, letter or online reporting."
"The advertisements put the issue in clear and simple terms - Hate crime is unacceptable, no one deserves it and no one deserves to get away with it. To stop it, report it."



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