Police Action Against Racist Hate Crime Plummets In Barking And Dagenham
Racist hate crime in Barking and Dagenham may be on the rise, but police proceedings against those responsible are falling.
Police took action against just 18 suspects of racist hate crime in Barking and Dagenham in 2018, despite there being 268 individual victims in the borough.
In 2014, police proceeded against 79 individuals, but this dropped 77% over a five-year time span. There were 289 individual victims of hate crimes in the borough in 2014, compared to 268 in 2018, a drop of 7% overall. Despite that drop, 2015, 2016 and 2017 saw a spike in racist hate crime, with 338, 338, and 326 victims respectively.
Aggressors predominantly male
Aggressors were most frequently male, with just 18% of aggressors being female over the last five years. Across all five years, 18-29-year-olds were the most frequent offenders at 33%. By ethnic group, White British people were the most regular offenders, making up 58% of those against which the police took action, followed up by those from other white backgrounds (excluding White Irish), at 13%.
The ethnicity of 45% of the victims is not known, but for where there is data available, the group most frequently targeted were Black Africans, who made up 11% of victims. White British people made up 8% of victims.
The data comes from a Freedom of Information report sourced by media literacy charity The Student View.
Why did students cover this topic?
Ethan, 14, and Anzellika, 15, from London, said, “Both our ethnic backgrounds are not White British, and we have both been victim to racial hate crimes. Journalism is a good way to share a message and express yourself.”