ACPO publishes hate crime data for 2010

ACPO has published hate crime data today for the period of 1st January to 31st December 2010, for the five monitored forms of hate crime classifications used by the criminal justice system.

In 2010, the police recorded 48,127 crimes where the victim, or any other person, perceived the criminal offence to be motivated by hostility based on a person’s race, religious belief, sexual orientation, disability or where the victim was perceived to be transgender. This compares with 51,920 crimes in 2009.

ACPO lead on equality, diversity and human rights, Chief Constable Stephen Otter, said:

“Hate crimes cause a great deal of fear among victims and communities. We are determined to reduce the harm caused by hate crime and as a service we have listened to victims’ groups who have told us that by publishing this data, confidence in the police and the wider criminal justice system would be improved.

“The 2010 data importantly shows increases in disability and transgender hate crime. While we would obviously want to see reductions in the incidence of all hate crime, we know that these crimes have been significantly under-reported in the past. We have committed to building victims’ confidence and improving our recording practices so that more victims can access the service they deserve. We continue to build on this improvement and I would encourage anyone who is a victim of hate crime to report it to their local police or to use True Vision, our online reporting facility at www.report-it.org.uk.”

Iqbal Bhana OBE DL, Deputy Chair of the Government’s Hate Crime Advisory Group, said:

“The continued publication of this data is to be welcomed. It represents a significant step forward in our understanding of the nature and extent of hate crime in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The members of our advisory group come from a range of backgrounds but all recognise that the transparent reporting of hate crime is essential to give confidence to victims and communities.

“The UK is among world leaders in the way that it responds to hate crime, but there is still much work to do. One of the greatest challenges is to reduce the under-reporting of hate crime. I am particularly pleased to see the increases in disability hate crime as many tragic crimes have highlighted the need to improve services to victims. We have worked with government and ACPO to increase the reporting of such crimes, but we can not afford to let up on our efforts or be complacent. It is good to see progress but there is still a long way to go before we can be satisfied that hate crime victims are properly protected.”

The full dataset is available via the following link:

http://www.report-it.org.uk/files/acpo_hate_crime_data_for_2010.pdf

In November 2007, ACPO Cabinet gave its support to a common definition of ‘monitored hate crime’ which had been developed with other agencies under the cross government Hate Crime Programme. This is now the accepted definition across all criminal justice system agencies and relevant government departments.

From April 2008, all police forces began to measure hate crime in the five monitored victim strands. Hate crime victim’s groups have informed the Government’s Hate Crime Strategy Board, which includes representatives from across government and the criminal justice system that the publication of hate crime data would help improve victim’s confidence in the criminal justice system. As a result, the Hate Crime Strategy Board has asked ACPO to publish hate crime data as an interim measure, pending inclusion in formal Home Office statistics. The 2009 data was released in November 2010.

Until 2008, the key figures available on hate crime have been those Racially and Religiously Aggravated Offences which are reported in the Home Secretary’s report on Race in the Criminal Justice System. That data is more limited as it only relates to four offence categories and only two of the five ‘monitored’ victim strands. From 2012, it is hoped that the data will be published by the Home Office as part of the Annual Data Return but in the interim, ACPO will publish this data on behalf of the police service.

These figures cover England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The 2009 figures are available via the above link.

The ACPO Press Office can be contacted via 020 7084 8946/47/48 (office hours) or via 07803 903686 (out of office hours).

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) is an independent, professionally led strategic body. In the public interest and, in equal and active partnership with Government and the Association of Police Authorities, ACPO leads and co-ordinates the direction and development of the police service in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In times of national need ACPO, on behalf of all chief officers, coordinates the strategic policing response.

ACPO’s 329 members consist of 242 chief police officers from the home forces of assistant chief constable rank (commanders in the Metropolitan Police and City of London Police) and above, plus 66 senior police staff members from the 44 forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Non home forces such as British Transport Police have 21 chief police officer members and there are three members from the Service Police.

For more information please contact:

ACPO Press Office
Association of Chief Police Officers
e: press.office@acpo.pnn.police.uk