The Council, local police and partners, are tackling recent spikes of hate crime in Richmond, in light of National Hate Crime Awareness Week.

This week (October 10-17) sees a nationwide effort to tackle a rise in hate incidents across the UK.

Hate crime is motivated by hostility towards a person - it is usually ‘who’ the victim is, or ‘what’ the victim appears to be - that motivates the offender.

Prejudices include a person’s perceived race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or gender.

Recently there has been a rise in hate crime in Richmond upon Thames, especially in racist and religious incidents.These can be committed against a person or property and are often physical, verbal or online.

From June–August this year, there were 93 reports of racist and religious hate crimes, which is a 55% increase from the year before when there were 60 reports.

Homophobic hate crime has also increased with 15 cases reported from June – August 2020, compared to four the previous year.

Cllr Gareth Roberts, Leader of the Council, said:

“Hate crime has no place in society. Hate, even when not a crime, can feel like a violation to those who suffer it and in the worst cases can escalate to crime and tension within our communities. Richmond upon Thames should be a safe environment for everyone – we all have the right to live without hostility from others because of who we are.

“The increase in hate crimes in our borough in recent months reflect a London wide increase in hate crime since the start of the year. The figures serve as a stark reminder that we must do more as a community to stop racism, homophobia and religious intolerance.”

Responding to the increase, Richmond Council is working with the police and Stop Hate UK. They are encouraging residents to report a hate crime or incident in the following ways:

• Call 999 if it is an emergency and a crime is in progress.

• Call 101 in a non-emergency to report, whether you’re a victim, witness or making a report for someone else.

• Report it online via the Met Police website

• If you want to report crime completely anonymously to the police, use https://crimestoppers-uk.org

• Stop Hate UK offers a 24-hour telephone number for people wanting to report hate crime. Call 0800 138 1625 or go to www.stophateuk.org/report-hate-crime

• For a confidential 24-hour helpline for young people under 18, call 0808 801 0576 or text 07717 989 025 or visit www.callhateout.org

Elisabeth Chapple, Commander for the South West BCU, added:

“We will not tolerate hate crime on the South West BCU, and I and all of my officers stand against it. We hope communities will support each other and embrace difference.”