26% spike in police-reported hate crimes in Hamilton a call to action: anti-racism advocate

Hamilton police reported about 26 per cent more hate incidents and crimes last year than the year before and Black, 2SLGBTQIA+ and Jewish people were most often targeted.

Those statistics may be discouraging, but they should also be seen as a call to action, and a warning of what could be to come, Lyndon George says.

"This is often a disheartening message when you hear it," the director of the Hamilton Anti-Racism Resource Centre (HARRC) said, adding: "This is about the work that we have to continue to do."

The new report by Det. Const. Lyndsay Scott found in 2023, police logged 79 hate crimes and 141 hate incidents. That's the most since at least 2011. The report says 96 occurrences were related to racial bias, 59 to religion and 55 to sexual orientation.

Police define hate crimes as criminal offences motivated wholly or in part by bias or prejudice based on the victim's identity. They define hate incidents as events that can't be proven to be hate-motivated, but include a "hateful overtone."

Black, 2SLGBTQIA+ and Jewish people most targeted

Compared to 2022, when police logged 174 occurrences, this year's total of 220 represents about a 26 per cent increase.

However, police and community advocates say it's hard to know whether that's because there is more hate, or because more people are reporting it more to police. 

Community groups have previously raised awareness around the fact not all people feel comfortable or safe reporting hate to police, which police acknowledge in the report. 

Scott took on her current role with the hate crimes team in January. She's also the police service's 2SLGBTQIA+ community liaison, and previously worked with the mounted unit and encampment engagement team.

She told CBC Hamilton "any form of hate or hate crime is alarming" and it's "gonna take all of us to deal with the problem."  

Police report Black, 2SLGBTQIA and Jewish people in Hamilton were among those most frequently targeted in 2023.

• Black people were the most targeted racial group in 2023, with 69 occurrences, followed by South Asian people with 13.
   
• There were 65 anti-Black hate and bias occurrences in 2022, and nine targeting South Asian people. 
   
• Police report 42 per cent of the anti-Black crimes and incidences in 2023 were graffiti-related.

War in Gaza led to more hate, say police and community members

One factor for the increase last year was the war in Gaza, Scott said.

Scott said 11 of the 16 hate crimes targeting Jewish and Muslim Hamiltonians occurred following Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Israel's subsequent bombing of Gaza.

At the time, community members told CBC Hamilton they were fearful, with a local Jewish group spending $200,000 on security.  

"These conflicts can stir racism, antisemitism and Islamophobia," George said. 

• Members of the Jewish community were the most targeted group in the religious category with 44 occurrences in 2023, followed by members of the Muslim community, which was targeted in 15 occurrences.

• In 2022, police reported 42 incidences targeting Jewish people in Hamilton, and five targeting Muslims.

• About 77 per cent of the occurrences targeting Jewish people were graffiti-related.

Property crimes hard to investigate, say police

Of all the crimes police logged, the report says police "cleared" about 15 per cent, meaning they completed their investigations and arrested someone, the person accused of the crime was charged in another jurisdiction, or the victim declined to proceed with charges.

That's considerably fewer than in 2022, when police reported clearing about 54 per cent of crimes.

Scott said this is in part because 58 of the occurrences police identified as hate crimes were property crimes, which can be hard to investigate. 

She noted there were 23 occurrences targeting pride flags last year, with a jump in June during Pride Month. Scott pointed to an online "challenge" in which people stole or vandalized the flags, as one factor. 

• There were 30 occurrences targeting gay people last year, the most targeted subcategory within the 2SLGBTQIA+ group.
   
• There were 24 occurrences targeting pride flags in particular.

Scott's report notes there are multiple reasons people may not report hate to police, including negative experiences with police, embarrassment and feeling reporting won't help.

"Building strong, positive relationships between Hamilton Police and Hamilton's diverse communities is important in helping victims feel more comfortable in reporting occurrences to police," the report reads.

Scott said police will continue to build relationships with communities through outreach. She said examples of outreach include a hate crimes symposium last year and community meetings.

She said police are also working toward establishing a hate crime review committee which would see officers and community members working together to address any policy gaps. 

George said the police-identified trends mirror what he's seen in the city. Generally, he said, people report hate to those they trust in their communities first, and from there, they decide whether to share concerns with police or publicly.

His team has its own community-led hate reporting tool called We Support Hamilton. Following consultations, he said he hopes to share data collected with that tool later this year. 

In a statement on social media, George's organization HARRC said the statistics "serve as a troubling reminder of the need for collective action to address systemic racism in our city." 

Having grown up in Hamilton, George said it's been tough to see anti-Black racism at the forefront of Hamilton hate statistics year after year. These statistics are people's stories, he said. 

George hopes Hamiltonians continue to come together to stop hate, and to prepare for further polarization to come. 

For instance, a rise in hate as a result of political tensions during this fall's United States presidential election — as has been seen with past U.S. elections — should be expected, he said. 

"We need to batten down the hatches and get ready."