Reported hate crime in the Wycombe district has gone up by almost 50 per cent in the last year, according to new figures by Thames Valley Police (TVP).

The 49 per cent increase represents an additional 48 incidents compared to this time last year, bringing the total number of reports to 145.

Police confirmed three of those incidents were directly linked to Brexit and each of those incidents were “resolved to the victim’s satisfaction”, but said that they have “long been of the view” that current reporting levels “do not accurately reflect the experiences of our communities”.

In a survey, TVP found that just one in three people who identified themselves as having been a victim of hate crime went on to report it to police. In addition, two-thirds of the 1,500 people surveyed were either not sure, or didn’t believe that hate crime was an issue in their community.

The figures have been slammed by former High Wycombe mayor cllr Khalil Ahmed who said it was a “failure” by police to provide the mechanism to report hate crime.

He said: “For those of us who believe in a tolerant and just society, where a person’s colour, ethnic origin or religion is not given any importance, the reported rise in ‘hate crime’ is disturbing and a worrying situation.

“Unfortunately, I am not entirely convinced that the TVP has made it any easier for people to report hate crime.

“Many a time, during their attendances at WDC about hate crime and their methods of recording, I have questioned their approach and not received satisfactory answers.”

TVP launched a new campaign, ‘Let’s Hate Hate’ to raise public awareness of the issue and encourage victims and witnesses not to accept abuse as “normal or without consequence”, and report it, during National Hate Crime Awareness Week in October.

Cllr Ahmed said while the campaign should be “applauded”, he does not think it is effective, describing it as “nothing more than a costly PR exercise without any positive outcomes”.

Chief Inspector Helen Roberts from the neighbourhood policing & partnerships office said: “Officers and staff work on a daily basis to support those who are vulnerable in our communities.

“The ongoing ‘Let’s Hate Hate’ campaign will help us drive home the message that hate crime in any form is not acceptable and whether you’re the victim, a witness or have learnt about an incident happening to a friend, you can contact the police in confidence and provide advice and support.”

Hate crime can be reported by calling police on 101 or 999 in an emergency, or through the Hate Crime Network on 0300 1234 148.

Cllr Ahmed's statement in full:

“For those of us who believe in a tolerant and just society, where a person’s colour, ethnic origin or religion is not given any importance, the reported rise in ‘hate crime’ is disturbing and a worrying situation.

“The life sentence for the horrific slayer of Jo Cox MP is a clear message that hate crime will not be tolerated in this country, the defiant and encouraging words from Jo’s family echo this sentiment and all decent and fair minded people need to stand united against hate in which ever form it exists.

“It is to be applauded that the Police have launched a ‘Let’s hate hate’ campaign to raise public awareness of the issue and to encourage victims and witnesses not to accept abuse as “normal” behaviour, and to report it, given that Thames Valley Police’s own statistics show that reported hate crime in the Wycombe District has gone up by 49% in the past year.

“Unfortunately, I am not entirely convinced that the TVP has made it any easier for people to report hate crime. Many a time, during their attendances at WDC about hate crime and their methods of recording, I have questioned their approach and not received satisfactory answers.

“Naturally, I welcome their recent initiative to encourage people to report instances of hate crime, but I am not sure they have done enough.

“I have looked at Thames Valley Police website, but there is no mention of the new campaign apart from the press release and furthermore there are no links to reporting hate crime unless you search for it on the website itself using their search tool.

“But once the link is found, it redirects you to the website for ‘Stop Hate UK’. Surprisingly enough ‘Stop Hate UK’ does not support our area and therefore asks you to go to ‘True Vision’. In short, a third party which should log reports of hate crime actually refers you to another third party to log the report.

“This is indicative of insufficient understanding on part of TVP, because many would be deterred from going through the hurdles in order to log the hate crime that they may have been subjected to. Of course, the simpler way is to dial 101 or ring crime stoppers but this needs to be made clear, or the process of reporting made simpler and less cumbersome.

“In my humble view the Police and Crime Commissioner’s new campaign is not effective and is nothing more than a costly PR exercise without any positive outcomes. The campaign needs to be monitored and evaluated carefully to ensure that it is fit for purpose.

“In summary, I believe that it is a failure by the police to provide the mechanism to report hate crime which contributes to the 1 in 3 who actually report hate crime.

“I do believe that Thames Valley Police and its various LPA commanders are genuine and serious about dealing with hate crime but maybe not aware that the current reporting mechanisms are not effective.”