Ottawa police see sharp increase in hate crimes for 2nd year in a row
Hate crime unit reviewed 340 reports in 2021, police say
Ottawa police say reports of hate-motivated incidents rose sharply in 2021, the second straight year there's been a significant jump in the numbers.
The 43.6 per cent increase meant that police investigated 340 incidents last year compared to 181 in 2020, according to a Friday news release. The majority of them, 260, were deemed criminal, police said.
Police charged 26 people with 92 criminal offences, while issuing formal warnings to nine people and two youths.
There was also a sharp uptick last year, when reports of hate crimes rose 56 per cent, up from 116 incidents in 2019.
While the trend is concerning, it's not even the full picture, said Sgt. Ali Toghrol, head of the Ottawa Police Service's hate crimes unit
Based on the national data available, police estimate they hear about only 35 to 40 per cent of hate-motivated incidents that occur, Toghrol said.
New unit may spur reporting, says sergeant
Two years ago, Ottawa police broke out a team from the intelligence unit to specifically focus on hate crimes, with the expectation they'd hear more reports from the community, Toghrol said.
"That element of trust exists in the community that if they are going to report incidents, they know there's a dedicated unit specifically to look at these types of matters," Toghrol said.
Toghrol said OPS has an online tool for people to report hate incidents, and are looking at taking it further by allowing third parties to also make those sorts of reports.
The increase may just mean the three-member team is doing the job it set out to, he said.
"It's very, very important for our racialized communities to feel safe and protected. Pretty much everybody in the community should feel that way."
Online activity may fuel hate
Toghrol did point to other possible causes for the increase, including political dramas trickling into Canada from around the world — and particularly from the U.S.
"It's very easy to find like-minded individuals who share the same racist, misogynistic, xenophobic views and to share information and also to be able to radicalize people online," he said.
Police said in 2021, the most victimized groups in the city included Jewish, Black, LGBTQ+, Arab, Muslim and East and South Asian people.
The most severe charges laid included assault with a weapon, uttering threats and mischief to property. Toghrol said the vast majority of hate crimes reported during the truck protest are still under investigation.
Toghrol also said incidents of anti-Asian racism rose in 2020 in connection with misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic.
With files from Guy Quenneville