Hate Crime in Haringey 2005

1
Hate Crime in Haringey 2005

• Dr Anthony Goodman
• Dr Amanda Loumansky
• Nick Feast
• Sue Goodman

2
Background to hate crime

• Whilst the history of hate motivated crimes in
  the UK is fairly well established and is not, by
  any means, a recent phenomenon, it was really
  only in the 1980s that the problem started to
  receive some official recognition. (Bowling and
  Phillips, 2003) Victim surveys carried out
  during the 80s and 90s also provided evidence
  of the extent of racist victimisation that
  existed and made it harder for the government to
  deny its existence.

3
The U.S. experience

• According to Jacobs and Potter (1998) hate crime
  laws in the US fall into four main categories.
  Firstly those that enhance sentences for hate
  motivated offences. Secondly those that redefine
  existing criminal behaviours as a new crime.
  Thirdly those that specifically relate to civil
  rights issues and fourthly those that relate to
  the collection of data and reporting.

4
The tragedy of Stephen Lawrence

• What led to a change, in official attitudes was
  the killing of a black youth, Stephen Lawrence,
  who was murdered on 22 April 1993 by a group of
  white youths shouting racist abuse. The report
  of the inquiry into the murder was published some
  6 years later and was greeted with a great deal
  of media attention. The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry
  was more than just a high profile inquiry into
  the murder of an African-Caribbean teenager and
  the failure to convict his killers. This inquiry
  placed the actions of the Metropolitan Police
  under unprecedented public scrutiny (2) the
  construction of young African-Caribbean men as
  street criminals and drug dealers by the police
  was challenged and (3) previous campaigns for
  justice were remembered and reconnected to the
  public debate. McLaughlin and Murji (1999)

5
Other issues

• While the Stephen Lawrence murder initiated the
  process of addressing the institutional racism of
  the police it was clear that wider issues were
  involved. In the spring and summer of 2001 riots
  took place in Oldham, Burnley and in the city of
  Bradford. (Denham,2002) Over the course of a
  weekend cars, houses and supermarkets were
  firebombed. According to the Oldham Independent
  Review 2001 three factors sparked the riots.
  Firstly National Front Incursions. Secondly the
  mugging of an elderly white pensioner and thirdly
  the attack by a group of white men on a house in
  the predominantly Asian Glodwick area of the
  town. (BBC News 2001) Similar disturbances took
  place in Bradford and Burnley during this period.

6
consequences

• Events such as these led to the recent Home
  Office report Improving Opportunity
  Strengthening Society 2005 in which the
  Government prioritises the need to build
  community cohesion. The aims of the strategy are
  summarised below.

7
consequences

• Improve the way in which the police and other
  agencies handle reports of racist or religiously
  motivated incidents.
• Improve the reporting of racially motivated
  incidents.
• Ensure vigorous prosecution of racially and
  religiously aggravated offences.
• Reduce racist re-offending.
• Providing greater support for victims and
  witnesses.
• Training in conflict resolution for community
  leaders
• Encouraging the role of the voluntary and
  community sector in promoting good race
  relations.
• Ensuring that promoting community cohesion is an
  integral part of Housing Market Renewal
  Pathfinders schemes which are tackling low
  housing demand and abandonment.
• Developing new ways to promote community cohesion
  in delivering policy on housing management to
  develop more balanced communities.

8
Legislation

• In response to the findings of the Lawrence
  Report the government implemented the Crime and
  Disorder Act 1998. The Act originally catered
  for racially aggravated incidents but has been
  widened by the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security
  Act 2001 to include religiously motivated
  offences.

9
legislation

• Where existing offences can be proved to be
  aggravated by racial or religious hostility then
  the Crime and Disorder Act allows for additional
  penalties to reflect the offenders prejudice
  towards the victim. The Act creates nine new
  racially aggravated offences based on
  pre-existing legislation. Sentences can be
  enhanced where it can be proved that racial
  aggravation was present at the time of the
  offence, except where offences already carry a
  maximum life sentence.

10
legislation

• Further Section 153 of the Powers of Criminal
  Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 requires courts to
  consider racial or religious hostility as an
  aggravating factor when deciding on the sentence
  for any offence which is not specifically stated
  under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. This
  effectively means that racial or religious
  aggravation can be taken into consideration by
  the court in sentencing for any offence.

11
Legislation on homophobic crime

• Section 146 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 came
  into effect in April 2005, empowering courts to
  impose tougher sentences for offences motivated
  or aggravated by the victim's sexual orientation
  in England and Wales.The Criminal Justice Act
  2003 does not create an offence for homophobic
  assault as such. However, it ensures that where
  an assault involving or was motivated by
  hostility or prejudice based on disability or
  sexual orientation (actual or perceived) the
  judge is required to
• Treat this as an aggravating factor
• State in open court any extra elements of the
  sentence that they are giving for the
  aggravation.

12
continued

• The Criminal Justice Act 2003 does not specify
  the amount by which sentences should be increased
  where disability or sexual orientation are
  aggravating factors. This will be specified in
  further secondary legislation.
• In June 2006 Stonewall welcomed the sentences
  passed on the murderers of south London barman
  Jody Dobrowski. The 28 year sentences were
  increased to reflect the way in which the killing
  was aggravated by homophobia. It was the first
  time that an aggravated sentence had been passed
  in a murder or manslaughter case since Stonewall
  secured the introduction of 'hate crime'
  penalties for anti-gay violence.

13
Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006

• Royal Assent 16.2.2006
• In effect from 1.10.2007

14
Amends the Public Order Act 1986

• Introduces a new criminal offence of stirring up
  racial hatred against a person on racial or
  religious grounds.
• Act extends the offences from individuals to
  businesses.
• Act fills a gap which makes it illegal to
  threaten people on the basis of race or ethnic
  background.

15
Victim-perpetrator relationship

• The bulk of hate crime literature does not
  directly address the victim-perpetrator
  relationship. Largely this appears to be a
  product of the way in which hate crime is usually
  defined. It is integral to most definitions of
  hate crime that the victim is chosen purely on
  the basis of his or her membership of a
  particular minority group and consequently the
  individual identity of the victim is irrelevant.

16
Victim-perpetrator relationship

• However there is a solid body of empirical
  research that indicates the majority of hate
  crime is committed by persons whom the victim
  does not know, significantly the 2000 British
  Crime Survey categorised 54 of the perpetrators
  of racially motivated incidents as strangers to
  the victim, including where the respondent could
  not provide any information on the offender. It
  is noticeable that in most studies the proportion
  of incidents involving strangers seems to hover
  between 50 and 60 leaving something 35 to 45
  of incidents involving perpetrators who are other
  than strangers. For example in the 2000 British
  Crime Survey 40 of racially motivated incidents
  were categorised as committed by persons known to
  the victim. (Mason,2005)

17
Defining Hate Crime

• The Crime and Disorder Act 1998, as amended by
  the Police Reform Act 2002 placed a requirement
  on local authorities to work together with the
  police and other agencies and to create and
  implement crime reduction strategies. To enable
  this to take place Haringey Safer Communities
  Partnership was set up. The Partnership is
  managed by the Haringey Safer Communities Unit
  who has adopted a largely holistic approach to
  the management of the strategy

18
Haringey Safer Communities Partnership definition

• Haringey Safer Communities Partnerships
  definition of hate crime as contained in the
  Crime Disorder Audit 1998 2001 states that it
  involves
• harassment and intimidation to particular
  communities. The crime categories it covers are
  racially and homophobic motivated offences,
  racial and homophobic abuse, age and disability
  discrimination. This crime type also covers
  harassment and intimidation targeted against the
  mentally ill.

19
Police definition

• This definition is different to the definition
  adopted by the Metropolitan Police. Their
  definition as contained in the Association of
  Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Hate Crime Manual as
  being

20
Metropolitan police definition

• a crime where the perpetrators prejudice
  against any identifiable group of people is a
  factor in determining who is victimised. A
  victim of hate crime does not have to be a member
  of a minority or someone who is generally
  considered to be vulnerable. For example the
  friends of a visible minority ethnic person,
  lesbian or refugee may be victimised because of
  their association. In some cases the
  perpetrators perception may be wrong. This can
  result in a person entirely unconnected with the
  hate motivation becoming a victim. In reality,
  anyone can become a victim of hate crime.

21
In March 2005

• the Home Office Police Standards Unit published
  and issued to police forces across the country
  Hate Crime Delivering a Quality Service. One
  of the first things the guidance seeks to do is
  to provide definitional clarity and this is done
  by explaining the distinction between a hate
  incident and a hate crime. A hate incident is
  defined as
• Any incident which may or may not constitute a
  criminal offence, which is perceived by the
  victim or any other person, as being motivated by
  prejudice or

22
A hate crime is defined as

• Any hate incident, which constitutes a criminal
  offence, perceived by the victim or any other
  person, as being motivated by prejudice or hate.

23
The need to avoid confusion over definition

• This position is supported by the CPS who state
  in their Code for Crown Prosecutors that Not all
  cases meeting the definition of a racist or
  religious incident will necessarily have
  sufficient evidence to meet the evidential test
  required by the Code.
• Haringeys definition of hate crime, which
  includes reference to age and disability
  discrimination is misleading as whilst
  intimidation targeted at victims because of their
  age and disability may well be treated by the
  police as a crime age and disability
  discrimination clearly would not be. It is not
  helpful for different partnership members to work
  with different definitions of hate crime.

24
Hate Crime and its Impact The potential impact
of hate crime is threefold, at victim level, at
secondary level and at community level.

• Research has shown that the effect of being a
  victim of hate crime is profound. Victims may
  suffer deep personal trauma and there is often
  little possibility of respite from the feeling of
  being victimised. Some victims report increased
  feelings of vulnerability and questioning of
  their identity. Being attacked for reasons of
  hate appears to be more difficult to recover from
  than being the victim of a crime not motivated by
  prejudice. Victims may require high levels of
  support from both the statutory and voluntary
  sectors. If such support is not available or if
  it is perceived that hate crime is not treated as
  seriously as other crimes, victims are likely to
  withdraw into themselves and further compound
  their sense of isolation. This can in turn lead
  to feelings of being estranged or separate from
  their community as well as feelings of betrayal.
  Once this has occurred it is very difficult for
  agencies to turn this around and re-establish the
  victims trust.

25
Secondary impact

• How the statutory and voluntary organisations
  treat victims of hate crime has a profound effect
  on their ability to recover from such
  experiences. This is known as the secondary
  impact. Insensitivity by officialdom is likely
  to leave the victim of hate crime feeling further
  marginalised and unsupported. If victims
  encounter prejudice and/or stereotypical
  responses to their situation this may well make
  recovery much less successful and the responses
  act to compound the original hurt. Professionals
  who exhibit biased attitudes may minimise the
  nature and effect of the crime, leading to no
  further action being taken or else trivialising
  the crime.

26
continued

• Haringey is a borough of great diversity and this
  presents opportunities for racists and other
  prejudicial people to exploit. At one level
  increasing incidences of Stop and Search could
  lead to people feeling victimised by the
  statutory authorities. These people may well
  view themselves as victims when others do not.
  The media has a tendency to sensationalise and
  young Asians in particular may feel that they are
  being viewed as potential terrorists. In this
  climate other vulnerable groups may feel that
  they are being seen as a low priority as
  resources are targeted elsewhere. During the
  period in which we completed the research we were
  told by a participant in an LGBT focus group that
  when the presence of homophobic literature in a
  public place was reported to the council and to
  the police no action was taken to ensure its
  removal. This caused a great deal of distress.

27
Community Impact

• Crimes of Hate committed against individuals will
  have a ripple effect and will be felt by many
  members of the minority community. This can lead
  to an increased sense of isolation and
  vulnerability as news of hate crime incidents
  percolates through the community. Members of the
  community may well congregate in areas where they
  feel safe. Thus targeted vandalism, hate slogans
  and individual attacks will often have a
  disproportionate effect on individuals and the
  communities in which they live, raising the
  levels of distrust and fear.

28
continued

• Therefore it is evident that there is need to
  gain and maintain the trust of communities
  vulnerable to hate crime, which goes beyond the
  needs of individuals. The impact of this type of
  crime is often disproportionate to the nature of
  the offence committed as feelings of
  vulnerability, of being listened to, of being
  understood, is more complex than simple notions
  of being a victim. It is about being seen and
  respected as an important and integrated part of
  the community. This requires regular dialogue
  and exchange to learn about what is happening
  within and to the community and to correct any
  feelings of injustice before they become serious.
  It is essential that no assumptions are made
  about knowledge of resources and avenues of
  communication and that the concept of hate crime
  is explained and support available is reinforced
  on a regular basis.

29
continued

• There are many varied minority and vulnerable
  communities present in Haringey. All of these
  need support and encouragement. However despite
  the oppression they experience certain groups are
  intolerant of others and this makes the job of
  overcoming hate crime more difficult. We have
  been told of religious groups who are very
  intolerant of LGBT communities and of intolerance
  between different minority ethnic groups. There
  is therefore a need to enhance the sense of
  community between groups so that experiences of
  prejudice can be seen as a common problem. This
  is not just a black and white issue but has many
  complexities to it. We have been impressed with
  the foundations that have been laid, for example
  the Safer Schools Project, and the many
  organisations set up and funded to help a number
  of minority ethnic groups.

30
Research carried out by Middlesex University

• Consider and contextualise the London borough of
  Haringey and its resident population.
• Identify reporting patterns of hate crime in
  Haringey during the audit period and over
  2004/05.
• Analyse hate crime in Haringey in contrast to
  other London boroughs.
• Obtain public perceptions regarding hate crime
  from focus groups held within the borough,
  including gauging levels of understanding of the
  term and its definition amongst Haringeys
  resident population and hard to reach groups as
  well as assessing fear of crime and repeat
  victimisation in relation to hate crime.
• Analyse commentaries, perceptions and data
  regarding hate crime in Haringey in order to
  identify successes, failures, problems and
  emerging issues (e.g. barriers to reporting).
• Evidence the under reporting of hate crime in
  Haringey and make recommendations accordingly.

31
The study was undertaken using both qualitative
and quantitative methods

• Data obtained from Haringey Council and the
  Metropolitan Police regarding the nature and
  extent of hate crime in the borough was gathered
  and analysed.
• Key groups in the borough were identified and
  contacted.
• Researchers identified key personnel within the
  borough and established contact with staff in
  both the statutory and voluntary sector.
  Interviews were then undertaken.
• Focus groups were arranged and a large number of
  people were invited to attend.
• A case study was undertaken with a travelling
  family.
• Gaps in current service provision were
  identified.
• Mechanisms for encouraging local communities and
  individuals to report hate crime were identified.
• A workshop day at one school with year 8 students
  was planned and facilitated in conjunction with
  the School Head to examine hate crime attitudes
  in the context of young people. A questionnaire
  was designed and the responses analysed.

32
Quantitative research findings

• The research team encountered a number of
  difficulties when collecting police data for the
  evaluation as two different data sets contained a
  number of significant differences, therefore
  suggesting it was inconsistent and unreliable.
  For example, the CRIS data obtained for the
  research shows that between April 2002 and March
  2003 there were 352 racial incidents in Haringey.
  In contrast, Met Stats data shows a total of 398
  for the same 12 month period. Similarly, CRIS
  data shows that between April 2003 and March 2004
  there were 251 racial incidents in Haringey. In
  contrast, Met Stats shows a total of 311.
• Subsequently, the research team attempted to
  ascertain which CRIS flags are used when Met
  Stats are compiled for both race hate and
  homophobic incidents and offences.

33
Middlesex University Findings

• Individuals and groups spoken to within the
  borough are unaware of the Council definition of
  hate crime.
• There is a need to agree on a common definition
  of hate crime within the borough that is not
  misleading.

34
Defining Hate Crime

• The Safer Haringey Partnership has adopted the
  following definition
• Hate crime is any behaviour (verbal or physical)
  that is motivated by hatred of another person
  because of a particular characteristic of that
  person.

35
Knowledge of reporting hate crime

• We found a lack of knowledge about how and where
  to report hate crime. This can lead to a lack of
  optimism that reporting these crimes will lead to
  change.

36
Updating the Council website

• At the time of undertaking the research the
  website was not user friendly and did not contain
  contact numbers or lists of agencies that support
  victims of hate crime.

37
Low expectations for change

• In our communications with different groups in
  the community there was a low level of belief
  that if incidents of hate crime were reported to
  the council or police that an acceptable response
  would result.

38
Working in schools

• Homophobia emerged as an issue in a training day
  organised on hate crime in a secondary school.
• Homophobia was also reported in an LGBT focus
  group.
• There is a need for the council and the police to
  make it clear that they will not tolerate such
  discrimination.

39
Working in partnership

• We recommend closer working and communication
  between the various agencies and the police to
  promote joined up working within the partnership.

40
Reporting Centres in the borough

• Comment was made to the research team that police
  stations were not necessarily the best places to
  report hate crime. We recommend that the Council
  consider developing third party reporting centres
  where members of the community will feel safe to
  come forward and report hate crimes.

41
Finally

• We thanked members of the community, council
  staff and others that we spoke to for their
  openness and willingness to discuss hate crime
  issues.
• This was a very productive project to have worked
  on and we have appreciated the support and
  commitment from all concerned.