‘Don’t be a dinosaur’ is the message from Lincolnshire Police during Hate Crime Awareness Week.
Hate crime in Lincolnshire has increased from 432 incidents in 2017/18 to 643 in 2018/19 – a 49 per cent increase.
During this period disability related hate crimes have increased by 20 per cent and racially aggravated offences by 50 per cent.
Offences relating to sexuality or transgender identity have increased by 76 per cent and 71 per cent respectively.
The only type of hate crime to reduce is faith-related hate crimes, which dropped by 15 per cent.
Dinosaur ‘Hate Crime Hank’ is the police’s mascot of National Hate Crime Awareness Week 2019, which runs from 12 to 19 October.
Chief Inspector Steve Williamson, force lead for hate crime, says:
“There is never any excuse for committing a hate crime and we don’t tolerate anyone who feels it is acceptable to cause distress or for someone to live in fear.
“Please don’t ever try to shrug off a hate crime as these crimes have the potential to escalate into something even more serious.
“Police recording of hate crime has improved significantly so this increase isn’t a surprise to us and we now have a more accurate picture of hate crime in Lincolnshire.
“We hope that Hate Crime Hank will help us raise awareness of the consequences of hate towards others and encourage communities to continue reporting offences to us.”
Police and Crime Commissioner, Marc Jones, added: “Hate crime continues to be underreported and nationally we know that around 40 per cent of hate crimes are not reported to the police.
This means that our officers didn’t hear about 250 incidents last year.
“I welcome the fact that more victims are having the confidence to come forward and report this despicable abuse and it’s vital that their cases are properly investigated.”
Any crime can be a hate crime if there has been hate or hostility towards the victim.
If you are a victim of hate crime or you have witnessed one call 101, or 999 if someone is in immediate danger.
Visit: www.lincs.police.uk/reporting-advice/hate-crime/
