TORONTO – A Toronto police report being presented at Thursday’s Police Services Board meeting indicates hate and bias crimes have gone up in 2014, both in reported incidents and arrests.
Statistics gathered between Jan. 1, 2014 and Dec. 31, 2014 reveal a jump of reported occurrences of hate/bias crimes from 131 in 2013 to 146 in 2014 — an 11 per cent increase.
Meanwhile, the number of arrests related to hate/bias crimes have also jumped from 17 in 2013 to 22 in 2014.
The three most victimized groups are the Jewish community, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) community and the Black community.
Mischief to property, assault and criminal harassment are the top reported hate/bias criminal offences reported.
“The Jewish community and the Black community were the most victimized group for mischief to property occurrences, while the LGBTQ community was the most victimized group for assault occurrences,” the report stated.
Under-reporting also continues to be a challenge for police to investigate and prevent offences.
In 2014, the Canadian Center for Justice Statistics contributed to the Hate Crime Consultations and Recommendation Report.
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