Source/Credit: York Region | News
By Joe Fantauzzi | March 24, 2011
Hate crimes reported to York Regional Police spiked to 106 last year — the biggest increase in five years.
At the same time hate crimes were on the rise, the overall number of reported crimes fell 1.1 per cent, led by drops in property crime, stolen vehicles and youth crime, for instance.
The numbers are contained in the York police annual statistical report, presented yesterday to the York Region Police Services Board.
The increase in hate crimes concerned Maple resident Aslam Daud, the national general secretary of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Canada, who said community leaders and police must tackle the issue with more education and ethno-cultural communities must continue to interact with each other.
It’s increasingly important as a sense of global community becomes more pervasive, he said.
“There is no way out but to realize that cities must become multicultural,” he added.
Hate-motivated behaviour is a concern, but’s it remains “very marginal” in York and often results from a lack of understanding.
He said while some homes in his community have had windows broken and there has been some vandalism in the neighbourhood, he isn’t convinced the incidents were motivated by hate.
York’s Muslim community was the target of three hate crimes last year, an increase from two in 2009, the report states.
Hate crimes can trickle down from global events, Chief Eric Jolliffe said, noting graffiti is a common form of hate crime in the region.
“I think it’s important that our community feel comfortable to come to us to report a crime that disturbs them. I think that’s very encouraging,” the chief said.
“I’m not totally alarmed by these numbers. Our ability is now to get into communities to encourage them to report and we may see more in this category because of that.”
The York police diversity bureau, which employes a 21-officer hate crime unit, has a mandate to work with diverse communities in the region.
The unit has enough staff to deal with hate crime in the region, Chief Jolliffe said.
Meanwhile, Len Rudner, Ontario regional director for Canadian Jewish Congress, said anyone working to stamp out hatred realizes it’s a long-term endeavour.
Any number of hate crimes is too many, Mr. Rudner said, adding hate crimes will unfortunately always exist.
Police received reports of 41 hate crimes targeting the Jewish community in 2010, up from 19 last year.
Mr. Rudner said he believes there are two ways to look at the number of hate crimes reported to York police in last year: that last year was worse than 2009, or that people victimized were more comfortable reporting the incidents to police.
When a hate incident occur, there is nothing more powerful than several people speaking out against it, he said.
And, people, getting to know others in their neighbour can help with that, Mr. Rudner said.
“While it may be an accident of real estate that brings us together, we should capitalize on those happy accidents,” he said.
Spikes in hate-motivated incidents can be seen during times of strife in the Middle East, Mr. Rudner noted.
Mr. Rudner said he believes the region’s Jewish community is well-served by York police.
The York police board renewed a $20,000 reward for information resulting in the arrest and conviction of those responsible for a 2004 anti-Semitic graffiti spree in Thornhill.
Ultimately, everyone has an opportunity to model behaviour that chips away at hateful attitudes, even at home or at work, Mr. Rudner said.
Read original post here: Crime down overall, hate reports soar
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