Hate occurrences soar 50 per cent higher for second consecutive year: London police

The number of hate occurrences reported to London police has grown by more than 50 per cent for a second year in a row.

A new report to the London Police Services Board (LPSB) reveals a troubling trend for hate crimes and hate incidents:

• 146 in 2021 (up 57 per cent)
• 93 in 2020 (up 52 per cent)

The number of hate occurrences has been steady at about 60 in each of the previous three years (2017-2019).

Black, LGBTQ2+, and Muslim Londoners were most frequently targeted in the reported occurrences.

There were 55 criminal charges laid by police related to hate/bias occurrences in 2021, a 120 per cent increase over the previous year.

Last June, the pride flag was ripped from the porch of Stephen Karchut and his partner’s home in southeast London — It was later found burned.

The incident was one of the hate occurrences reported to London police last year.Graph detailing hate crimes and incidents. (Source: London police)

 

“To not feel safe in your home is horrible. To not feel safe in your community is horrible,” explained Karchut. “It’s really disgusting to see the trend continuously moving upwards.”

“Anecdotally, we’re hearing it,” Nawaz Tahir says the local Muslim community is aware of the rising amount of hate in London.

Tahir believes growing confidence to report incidents to police only accounts for part of the increase.

“Hate crimes remain vastly underreported, but I think there’s just more hate out there right now,” he said.

The police data is broken down into two subsets, hate crimes and hate incidents.

Hate crimes involve a violation of the criminal code, whereas hate incidents such as hostile speech do not meet the criteria to charge an individual.

“Right now the justice system is ill-equipped and ill-resourced to help victims of hate crimes,” Tahir explained.Graph detailing five most frequently targeted groups. (Source: London police)

 

He says the Our London Family Act proposed by the National Council of Canadian Muslims calls on the federal government to broaden and strengthen hate crime laws in Canada.

It also calls for the creation of a Provincial Hate Crime Accountability Unit that would offer support and investigate failures in fighting hate.

“Part of why we are seeing this is people who traffic in hate feeling empowered,” added Tahir.

According to Karchut, London police took the incident involving his flag seriously, eventually identifying the youth responsible.

“I’d like to see more of an education system put into our schools, [teaching] tolerance.”

The London Police Services Board will consider the 2021 Hate-motivated Crime and Incident Report at its May 19 meeting.