Victims of hate crime in Fife have been urged not to suffer in silence after an exclusive Courier probe found almost 200 charges of racially aggravated conduct have been reported to local courts during the past two years.
Statistics obtained under freedom of information legislation reveal that between January 1, 2009, and November 12 last year a total of 196 charges had been recorded the vast majority involving verbal abuse.
Police chiefs said they are determined to tackle “all hate crime” and encouraged victims to come forward.
The majority of racially-aggravated conduct was reported in the Levenmouth area, where 47 crimes were logged over the period.
The total for Kirkcaldy was 43, while north-east Fife saw 26 crimes and Dunfermline 24.
Inspector Steven Mackay said the force has a high detection rate in relation to all types of hate crime, and stressed all reports were taken seriously.
“This is an area we have put a lot of effort in to over the years in partnership with a variety of other agencies,” he said. “The majority of these cases tend to involve verbal abuse, but we treat every single report extremely seriously.”
He continued, “We do have a high detection rate for these kind of crimes and we would really encourage people who are experiencing problems to come forward and speak to us. Reporting hate crime can help to stop it from happening to others.Sticks and stones”The old saying is that while sticks and stones can break bones words can never hurt well that simply is not the case. Verbal abuse can cause misery and should not be tolerated.”
Mr Mackay said hate crime can now be reported online anonymously if required at www.fife-direct.org.uk/reporthatecrime.
“The key message we want to get out is that nobody should suffer in silence,” he said. “Fife is a very safe place to live, but we are never complacent.
“These are not high numbers, but they are still significant and we are committed to tackling all hate crimes.”
Released national figures show a 2% drop in racist incidents year-on-year.
Across the country almost half of the victims of racially aggravated conduct are of Asian origin, with most from Pakistan.
In cases where the ethnicity of the perpetrator was known, 96% were white.
The most common location for an incident in 2008-09 was in the street, a house or a shop accounting for almost two-thirds of the total.
Fridays and Saturdays were the most common days and more incidents happened in the evening than at any other time.