Police are focusing their efforts on reducing hate crimes after recent statistics showed a significant increase in the number of cases reported.
Between April 2013 and June 2014, 107 charges of hate crime were recorded in Fife, a rise of 20 charges from the same period the year before.
Out of the 20 charges, two involved disability, 82 related to racial incidents, six were of a religious nature and 17 were in relation to sexual orientation.
The charges represent an 18% rise in hate crime over a 12-year period but Chief Superintendent Garry McEwan said the figure could be considered a positive reflection of the fact that more victims now had the confidence to report such crimes to the police.
“I don’t believe hatred is on the rise in our communities but rather there is a growing confidence among people to report such crimes to the police as they now know they will receive the help they need,” he told members of the safer communities committee.
In August last year, Kirkcaldy hosted a special conference to highlight the gap between the numbers of racism and hate crimes taking place and the number being recorded.
The event, organised by members of Fairness Race Awareness and Equality Fife (FRAE Fife) encouraged victims to report racism and hate crimes to police and also promoted third-party reporting centres across the region.
Mr McEwan said: “Since April 2013 Fife has benefited from referrals of hate crime via the national online reporting facility,” he said.
“Since June 2013, Fife has maximised opportunities by further engagement with Fife’s diverse community population via 21 third-party reporting centres throughout the division.
“It is likely that these increased figures have been realised from encouraging and providing increased confidence for members of the public to maximise these new reporting routes within a context of recognised under-reporting of such crimes during previous years.
“Crimes motivated by hate continue to receive a priority focus within our division.
“Such crimes are monitored by local areas on a daily basis with support provided by the Divisional Crime Management Unit (DCMU).
“The Fife division recorded a detection rate for hate crime of 88.5% for the quarter one of 2014/2015, an improvement of 7.2% against the same period last year.”
Fife Council partnership and policy manager Tim Kendrick said it was important for committee members to note that the local authority had also witnessed a marked increase in the reporting of hate crimes in recent times.
“I don’t have the exact figures to hand, however, the number of hate incidents reported to the council have gone up from around 3% to something like 35% over the last five years,” he said.
All hate offences were investigated by the council, he added, and if deemed to be of a criminal nature they are then passed on to the police.