Underreporting of hate crime
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) published the number of hate crimes reported during the 2016-2017 period, whether they were dropped, convicted or acquitted of by court. In total, 5,325 charges were made in relation to sexual orientation, transgender, race, religion, and disability hate crimes. 5,708 when offensive behaviour at football and threatening communications were included (COPFS, 2017). However, official statistics rarely represent the reality of the crime levels. An increase in reporting does …show more content…
Racism and hate crimes against white minority groups, such as gypsies, asylum seekers, and eastern European immigrants, are often not given adequate attention. The number of hate crimes against Polish people in the UK has increased by ten times from 2004 to 2014, due to political stereotyping and negative media coverage and moderated by government austerity and lack of job opportunities (McDevitt, 2014). After Brexit, Polish people living in Britain are too anxious about remaining that they do not report hate crimes according to the Polish Social and Cultural Association. Home Office recorded an increase of racist and religious hate crimes by 41% in England and Wales after the EU referendum (Forster, 2016). Yet, Police Scotland reported that there was no rise in racial crimes after Brexit (Hamilton,