Calgary hate crimes coordinator reviewing more files
Posted Jun 9, 2015 10:15 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
After three years in the position, the hate crimes coordinator with the Calgary Police Service says he’s seeing more cases come across his desk.
Seargent Eric Levesque indicated to 660News that while hate crimes are bad, a higher number of reports is not necessarily a bad thing. He said officers are doing a better job of recognizing hate based situations, or victims are feeling more comfortable reporting to police.
“One of the things we try to do is show support for victims of hate crimes and show them through the enforcement and hopefully successful prosecutions that the community doesn’t abide these types of crimes,” Levesque said.
Creating more awareness about what hate crimes are and how to report them has also been a priority, according to Levesque.
“I think what we’re seeing as well internally in the police service is we are trying to fine-tune our own process to ensure that when these are reported to us that they’re not being missed.”
Despite Calgary’s ever growing population, the number of confirmed hate-based assault, mischief and harassment reports doesn’t seem to be bucking the five year average.
The latest statistics show 57 confirmed cases in 2013. The numbers are very consistent over the previous half dozen years, with between 55 and 60 cases confirmed each year.
The latest Statistics Canada report indicates only about a third of hate based cases across the country are reported to police.
