B.C. quadruples size of hate crimes team as incidents surge by 23%

The British Columbia government is quadrupling the size of the province’s hate crimes policing unit, amid surging reports of incidents motivated by race, religion and sexual orientation.

Public Safety Minister Gary Begg announced the expansion Friday, which will take the unit, which is a part of the B.C. RCMP, from two officers to a team of eight.

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The province is providing $734,000 in new funding, which will be used to hire five new RCMP officers and one intelligence analyst.

“We cannot ignore the reality that acts of hate have been on the rise in recent years,” Public Safety Minister Gary Begg said.

“Over the past year alone, we have seen reprehensible acts of violence here in our province. Places of worship have been vandalized, treaty offices have been defaced, and innocent people have been targeted while going about their daily activities.“

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According to provincial data, police-reported hate crimes in B.C. surged by nearly a quarter (23 per cent) between 2022 and 2023.

Hate crimes motivated by race or ethnicity were up by 12 per cent, while incidents linked to religion spiked by over 50 per cent and incidents related to sexual orientation were up 43 per cent.

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“Hate has no place in British Columbia. It only deepens fear, it creates division, erodes public safety, and stands in direct opposition to everything we value and believe in,” Begg said.

“As community leaders, we have a responsibility to protect those who are targeted simply because of who they are.”

Begg said the new funding will help ensure prosecutors have the necessary evidence to win convictions on hate crimes charges, and bolster court proceedings by providing expert testimony and support for witnesses and victims.

The B.C. Hate Crimes Team is the only RCMP provincial hate crime team in Canada.

Chief Supt. Elija Rain, Officer in Charge of the B.C. RCMP Major Crimes Section said the unit has been facing a growing workload.

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He said the team is currently reviewing more than 100 files per week where hate could be a motivating factor, and provide guidance and oversight to both RCMP and municipal police forces.

“Whether it is hate-motivated crime, hate propaganda or non-criminal but deeply harmful incidents involving hate or bias, we recognize the impact these incidents have on victims and communities. We also recognize the importance of investigating hate-related files,” he said.

‘The B.C. Hate Crime Team provides operational support and expertise to all policing agencies across the province, which means the positive impacts of expanding this team will be felt in every region of British Columbia.”

Along with the expanded hate crime team, the province says it has received $4 million from the federal government through the Shift B.C. program, which works to prevent radicalized violence by supporting people at risk.