Two major West Country police forces see religious hate crimes double in three years 

Two West Country police forces have seen an increase in religious hate crimes in the last three years.

Some of the largest police forces in the UK have seen a double spike in types of religious hate crime in the past 18 months, with numbers jumping after the start of the Hamas-Israel conflict in autumn 2023 and again following the Southport attacks this summer, figures reveal.

Freedom of Information requests have revealed the number of antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crime offences recorded by police forces in England in the three consecutive 12-month periods ending September 2022, September 2023 and September 2024.

For Avon and Somerset Police, both forms of hate crimes doubled. From October 2021-September 2022 there were 27 antisemitic crimes recorded, this jumped to 59 in the October 2023-September 2024 period. 

For Islamophobic crimes, there were 58 recorded from October 2021-September 2022. This nearly doubled to 112 in the October 2023-September 2024 period.

The other West Country force to note was Devon and Cornwall Police. 

Antisemitic crimes recorded rose from 27 to 59 in the last three years, whilst Islamophobic crimes rose from 28 to 56 over the same period. 

Dave Rich, spokesman for the Jewish charity, the Community Security Trust (CST), said: “These figures show similar trends as CST’s own antisemitic data, with a sharp rise in anti-Jewish hate crimes following the 7 October attack last year to levels that have still not returned to what used to be considered ‘normal’.

“The increases are even more shocking when set against the relatively small size of the Jewish communities in some of these places.

“This kind of anti-Jewish hatred should be unacceptable to all, and we will continue to work closely with police and the CPS up and down the country, alongside local Jewish communities, to reduce the impact of this hatred.”

Iman Atta, director of Tell Mama which monitors anti-Muslim hate, said: “Anti-Muslim hate or Islamophobia spikes repeatedly when there are international issues and when there is far-right agitation, extremism, continued finger-pointing at a political level against Muslims, and even post the Brexit vote. So these figures are not surprising.

“We have assisted over 5,000 British Muslims this year and the number keeps rising.

“Yet we are not seeing the action needed to tackle this problem. In fact, we are seeing anti-Muslim hate or Islamophobia being treated as though it is not the significant problem it is."

Dame Diana Johnson, Home Office minister for policing, fire and crime prevention, said: “These numbers are deeply troubling. We are determined to stamp out the toxic vitriol which is spread by a minority of people, and perpetrators of hate crime should be in no doubt that they will face the full force of the law.

“The significant increase in antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crime is very serious, which is why we have committed up to £47.4 million per year in protective security funding for Jewish and Muslim communities to 2027-28.

“We must have zero tolerance for antisemitism, Islamophobia and every other form of heinous hate in Britain, and we back the police in taking strong action against those targeting specific communities.”

Chief Inspector Karen Corrigan, the lead for hate crime in Avon and Somerset Police, said: "There’s no place for any form of hate crime in society and we encourage people to report any and all incidents to us to allow us to carry out a full and thorough investigation.

"It’s widely acknowledged that hate crime in general is an area that is vastly under-reported, so seeing the number of reports rising over the past few years is in some ways encouraging, showing more people have trust and confidence in policing to report incidents.

"We welcome this increase and remain dedicated to rebuilding trust and confidence with our communities in order to continue seeing more reports.

"We’ll keep working with our partners to tackle the root causes of hate crime in our communities, as well as aiming to prevent future incidents by building on our existing educational outreach in schools and youth clubs.

“In the past year there’s been an overall increase of more than 20% in reporting of hate crime across all categories in Avon and Somerset. Reports peaked following the public disorder we experienced in the summer, with 677 reports made in August alone, 70% of which were racial in nature.

“Recognising the alarm and fear that many in our minoritised communities were experiencing during this time, and to try and counter much of the disinformation and misinformation that was circulating online, we opened direct lines of communication with community and religious leaders, to ensure they were regularly updated on the facts and our operational plans, an approach which helped to reassure and calm the public.

“We continue to engage with our community and religious leaders and partners, to ensure they know how to report concerns. We're also working closely with our staff networks, including the newly established Association of Muslim Police for Avon and Somerset, to support our colleagues who face unique forms of hate due to their profession and heritage.

"We recognise that every hate crime has a massive impact on the victim and the wider community, which is why we encourage people to come forward and report hate crimes to us."

Devon and Cornwall Police Diverse Community Lead, Inspector Rebecca Le Cheminant, said: “Devon and Cornwall Police encourages anyone who is a victim of hate crime to report it.

“We take all reports of hate crime seriously because we know that they have a devastating impact on individual victims and targeted communities.

“Targeting someone and assaulting them because of their visible difference is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

“Hate crime does account for 3% of all crime in Devon and Cornwall Police and this figure has remained consistent over the last three years.

“Nationally, there was a 25% increase in faith-based hate crime in the last 12 months (Oct 2023 to Oct 2024). Devon and Cornwall Force area has seen an increase too. We continue to encourage the public to report all incidents so that we are able to give support, gather evidence, bring perpetrators to justice and create safer communities for everyone.

“If you witness a crime please report it. If you are able to take that extra step, have digital footage or can provide a statement – it does send out a clear message of zero tolerance to hate crime, especially faith based. Our aim is to keep our communities and locations safe for all.

“At this time, we have no specific faith-based hate crime hotspots emerging but we do ask our communities to remain vigilant. Devon and Cornwall Police does undertake preventative work and has linked in closely with retail hubs, education, transport hubs and places of worship to reassure and support people over the last 12 to 18 months.

“If you are a victim of hate crime and do not wish to speak directly to the police there are third party support agency such as Community Safety Trust, Tell Mama and TrueVision who can provide support and pass reports on to the police. Crimestoppers will also report incidents to police and retain anonymity if important to the person reporting.

“If anyone requires support recovering from an incident Victim Support will always assist. The Force does have neighbourhood teams and a diverse communities team who the public can speak to directly and we do monitor incidents of hate crime to ensure people feel safe and are safe within our communities.”