Police believe the spike in hate crime following the EU referendum was the worst on record.
Mark Hamilton, head of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), said: “I believe the referendum debate has led to an increase in reporting of hate crime. It is very clear in the last couple of weeks that more people have been aware of experiencing such incidents than we have had before.”
Reports to police increased by 42%, to more than 3,000 allegations of hate crime across Britain in the week before and the week after the 23 June vote. “It’s probably the worst spike,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton, who is also assistant chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said an increased likelihood of reporting incidents, as well as an increase in incidents, accounted for the spike.
He said there was a direct link to the vote. “Some people took that as a licence to behave in a racist or other discriminatory way. We can not divorce the country’s reaction to the referendum and the increase in hate crime reporting.”
Offences were mainly harassment and threats of a racist nature, said Hamilton, directed against “visible minorities” as well as people from eastern Europea. He said the number of reports had fallen in recent days and was returning to what police were used to.
There were geographical variations in the spike. Increases were seen in the Metropolitan police area, covering London, home to the largest population of ethnic minorities. Avon and Somerset police, covering Bristol and the west country, and Greater Manchester police recorded higher numbers of reported hate crime, while in one force area the rate dropped marginally.
Police figures released on Friday showed a large rise in reported incidents, averaging more than 200 a day. Police said 3,076 hate crimes and incidents were reported to forces across the UK between 16 and 30 June; one week before and one week after the vote on 23 June.
The 42% rise in incidents being reported to police amounted to an increase of 915 reports compared with the same time last year. The real figures could be higher, with past studies suggesting just one in four hate crimes are reported to police. A total of 289 offences were recorded on 25 June, the first full day after the referendum result was announced.
Historically, police have struggled to convince communities affected by hate crime that they should take such offences seriously. Surveys show the vast majority of hate crime – 85% – is race related.
Police believe just one in four incidents are reported to them. Thus 52,000 hate crimes were recorded by police last year but a national crime survey suggested 225,000 was the real figure.
Hamilton said something about the referendum had triggered the incidents.“I do not believe it suddenly emerged. Some people felt it gave licence to vent views or behaviour,” he said.
“The action of someone who carries out a hate crime is motivated by a desire to intimidate or frighten others. It is trying to exclude the other and having a supremacist view.”
Police have seen spikes in hate crimes following events such as Israel’s military actions in Gaza, which saw a rise in targeting of Jewish people in Britain, and the terrorist murder of Lee Rigby, which led to a rise in Islamophobic attacks.
The government says it is planning further measures to tackle hate crimes.
