Police bosses have spoken out a ‘troublesome increase’ in hate crimes in the Avon and Somerset force area since the EU referendum
Police and Crime Commissioner Sue Mountstevens and Chief Constable Andy Marsh have now penned an open letter to the public in the wake of the vote to condemn ‘abhorrent’ racial or anti-immigrant abuse.
It said: “There can never be any excuse for hate crime in any shape or form and this criminality will not be tolerated. Nationally there has been a rise in the number of hate crime incidents to the national online reporting site, and we have seen a troublesome increase across Avon and Somerset too.”
They say the number of racially motivated incidents has risen by an average of 10 a day in the past week.
The letter also encouraged victims to report abuse and said: “Let’s not react to the current climate but continue instead to be inclusive, accepting, welcoming and celebrate the difference that makes our communities so rich rather than letting it divide us.”
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