Official: Dungannon no longer Northern Ireland’s racist capital
DUNGANNON is no longer the worst trouble spot for racial incidents in Northern Ireland, official figures have revealed.
Last year there were only 25 incidents of racially motivated crime reported in the Dungannon District, a 75 percent drop from a high of 102 incidents in 2006.
And it appears that police are winning the battle in stamping out racism after they recorded a 25% detection rate in the past year compared to 5.8% in the previous year. This year’s detection rate was the highest since the current records began.
In 2010, Dungannon earned the title of Northern Ireland’s race hate capital, after local police recorded the highest number of racist crimes committed outside of Belfast.
This year’s figure, which was released by the PSNI, represents a 58% drop from last year, in which there were 60 such incidents. It means that Dungannon has slipped down the rankings from the most racist district to ninth, well behind places such as Foyle, Craigavon, Ballymena, Coleraine, Lisburn and Newtownabbey. Craigavon now has the highest number of racist crimes with 43 reported in 2011.
A racist incident is defined as ‘any incident, including any crime, which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person’.
Dungannon town councillor Walter Cuddy welcomed the drop in racist crimes and the improved police detection rate.
“I think the fact that the town is now a safer more welcoming place for foreign nationals is down to the hard work of the council, the police and local businesses”, he said.
“The foreign national community is very well integrated into the town. We’ve all got to know the town’s new arrivals as individuals. In fact, the town is a much safer place to socialise in, to live in, and to do business in.
“A big part of this is also a better managed night-time economy with a reduction in alcohol related violence.”
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Weather for Dungannon
Sunday 19 May 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 9 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 8 C to 17 C
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