The changing nature of reported hate crime and the levels reported in Sunderland have been discussed by city leaders.
Recorded hate incidents rose from 426 in 2018 to almost 500 last year (2020), roughly two thirds of which saw people targeted on the basis of race.
But findings also conceded Sunderland has the second lowest rate of hate crime across Tyne and Wear, only slightly ahead of South Tyneside.
“Overall, hate crime has increased this year,” said Chief Inspector Paul Walters, of Northumbria Police.
“It’s never a good thing to say that crime has increased, but I genuinely think hate crime is under reported.
“The closer we actually get to accurate reporting, we will be in a stronger position to begin to understand the issues.
“Nationally, hate crime has increased continuously since 2017 and Sunderland has risen with that trend.”
Ch Insp Walters was speaking at last night’s (Thursday, February 11) meeting of Sunderland City Council’s Scrutiny Co-ordinating Committee, which was held by videolink and broadcast via YouTube.
While racism is an issue for the city, one of the main areas of concern highlighted in the report, produced by the Hate Crime Monitoring Group and the Sunderland Partnership, is disability hate crime, which has seen the biggest rise over the past three years, doubling between 2018 – 2019.
Homophobic offences have also risen over the same period, although faith-based crime has fallen ‘significantly’.
The findings emphasise the increases in reported incidents could be due to people being ‘able to recognise that they have been a victim of hate crime and feel confident to report it’.
Although it notes such offences constitute a ‘relatively small’ proportion of overall offending, it also notes hate crime rates have spiked in the wake of ‘specific events’, such as the EU referendum and terrorist attacks.
The coronavirus pandemic is also cited, with the government’s lockdown prompting ‘noticeable changes in the nature of reported hate crime’.
According to the report, perception of Sunderland as the first ‘leave’ city, prompted a number of far right demonstrations, including appearances by the likes of convicted fraudster Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson.
It also noted ‘the majority of those taking part in far-right demonstrations in Sunderland had travelled into the city from other towns and cities across the UK, with little involvement from Sunderland residents’.
