Racially and religiously aggravated offences reported in Dorset rise by 43%

There has been a 43% rise in racially and religiously aggravated offences recorded in Dorset, according to new figures from the Home Office.

The county's police saw the third biggest year-on-year increase in the country.

Superintendent Alan Setchell, Dorset Police, says the force every crime reported, especially hate crime, are looked at with a significant level of supervision and scrutiny.

He says Dorset Police is aware that hate crimes are widely unreported and is looking at reducing the gap between the survey and reported crime.

National Police Chiefs' Council lead for hate crime, Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton says the police have worked hard to improve their response to hate crime and take all reports of threats and abuse seriously.

He says: "Targeting someone because of their race or other characteristic is completely unacceptable and should not be tolerated.

"Everyone has the right to live their lives without fear of being attacked, either physically, verbally or online."

Diana Fawcett, chief executive at independent charity Victim Support says the significant rise in racially and religiously aggravated crime is "shocking" and "a huge cause for concern".

She says: "In order to encourage more victims to come forward and report crimes, we must ensure that they have the confidence they will get justice from these incidences."

A spokesperson from the Equality and Human Rights Commission said: "An increase in the number of police recorded cases could be owing to a number of reasons, and could be a sign of improvements in recording practices, but more still needs to be done to improve the process and the quality of support for victims.

"This includes effective hate crime training for police forces and work to ensure our hate crime laws are clear and easy to understand."