Hate crimes on the rise in Halton and here are the most targeted groups

The region saw an increase in hate crimes last year with 40 incidents in 2022 compared to 31 reported in 2021.

A report presented to the Halton Police Board on Thursday, Feb. 23 noted Oakville had the largest number of hate crimes at 17, followed by Burlington with 14, Milton with six and Halton Hills with three.

It is up, and it is something we are continuing to monitor," said Halton police Chief Stephen Tanner.

We have cleared a number of those occurrences."

There were also several suspected hate crimes reported in 2022 with four taking place in Oakville, two occurring in Milton and one in Halton Hills.

Deputy Chief Roger Wilkie said 29 of the 2022 hate crimes involved property damage/vandalism with hate-related slurs or symbols being spray-painted or scratched on public and private property.

Other incidents involved the theft of Pride flags.

The report noted the region also saw 31 hate/bias incidents reported in 2022 that didn't meet the threshold of a hate crime.

Wilkie said these mostly involved racial or ethnic rhetoric communicated through social media or during in-person conflicts.

The report noted members of Halton's Black community were the group most targeted by these hate-related occurrences with 21 incidents, followed by members of the LGBTQ2S+ community with 18 incidents, South Asian individuals with 11 incidents, members of the Jewish community with nine incidents, those of Middle Eastern decent with five incidents, members of the Muslim community with three incidents, East Asian people with two incidents, European people with two incidents, women with one incident, Hispanic people with one incident and Caucasian people with one incident.

It was acknowledged during the meeting that there is most likely a significant under-reporting of hate crimes in Halton.

The majority of all reported hate-related occurrences were random in nature, had no definable pattern, and were believed to be committed by individuals and not by organized groups," said Wilkie in the report.

These impact factors, combined with a lack of eyewitnesses as well as a lack of physical evidence, makes the investigation into hate-related occurrences challenging in nature."

Despite these challenges, Wilkie noted that for 27 per cent of 2022's 78 hate-related occurrences, the ensuing investigation resulted in the person(s) responsible being identified and the case cleared.

Wilkie noted Halton police are attempting to tackle future hate incidents from a number of angles.

He said hate and bias crime investigation training was provided for all Halton police officers and civilian staff in 2022.

Police also conducted outreach to various Halton communities, so these communities feel comfortable approaching police and reporting hate crimes if they occur.

Officers also watch for high profile incidents taking place around the world and then conduct proactive patrols at places of worship or other locations to ensure local groups are not the target of similar or retaliatory incidents.

Tanner also argued the courts do not take hate crimes as seriously as they should given the impact these crimes can have on the community.

The board and Tanner resolved to send the attorney general of Ontario and the solicitor general correspondence on this matter.