Local Police Inspector David Happs attended yesterday’s Living in Harmony forum to listen to community concerns of recent racist incidents in North Edinburgh – none of which were reported to police.
Following the meeting, Inspector Happs made some enquiries of his own and has responded to the group:
All,
Thank you to those that attended the meeting this afternoon, I hope you found my input and associated discussion useful.
As discussed and in response to the email below the initial figures that I have for Edinburgh show there has actually been slightly less reported hate crimes and incidents in the period after the referendum, none of which can be directly attributed to the referendum result, than were experienced in the same time period before the result.
However, I am aware through contact with some of you there is an element of under-reporting of hate crimes and such incidents. We continue to work hard locally and nationally to address this and I am grateful to those who expressed an interest in establishing further 3rd party reporting centres in Edinburgh.
I hope this work alongside your support in encouraging victims to come forward and our continued engagement with our diverse communities will provide an accurate picture of hate crime in Edinburgh and assist Police Scotland in tackling it.
With regard to offering reassurance to local communities Chief Inspector Alastair Muir of our National Safer Communities Department recently issued the following message:
“Police Scotland continues to monitor all types of hate crimes and incidents and we have noted no significant rise in reported incidents or crimes since the EU Referendum. It is recognised that these types on incidents often go un-reported and would encourage individuals and communities to report concerns in person, via Third Party Reporting Centres or online. Our role as a police service is to ensure that all our communities are safe and feel protected and all reports of hate crime, extremism or violence are robustly investigated, with those responsible brought to justice. Police Scotland does not tolerate hatred, extremism or violence in any form.”
More information about what constitutes a hate crime, how to report a hate crime and use of our 3rd party reporting centres can be found on our website. Our non-emergency telephone number is 101 and in an emergency you should always call 999.
http://www.scotland.police.uk/contact-us/hate-crime-and-third-party-reporting/
Further information will follow in due course and I will keep you updated accordingly. In the meantime please do not hesitate to contact me should you wish to discuss further.
Community Action North is to organise a community event around the issue – details to follow
