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CRIME HATE CRIMES ON THE RISE IN HALTON DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com The zegion saw an in- crea: hate crimes last year with 40 incidents in two occurring in Milton and one in Halton Deputy Chief Roger Wil- kie said 29 of the 2022 hate crimes involved property damag' e/vandalism with te-rel to31report- ed in 2021. A report recently pre- sented to the Halton Police Board noted Oakville had the largest number of hate crimes at 17, followed by Burlington with 14, Milton with six and Halton Hills with three. "It is up, and it is some- thing we are eae to monitor," said Halton lice Chief Stephen ‘Tan, ner."We have cleared a number of those occur- rences." were also several suspected hate crimes re- ported in 2022 with four taking place in Oakville, ited slurs or sym- rae being spray-painted or scratched on public and in- volved the theft of Pride flags. The report noted the re- gion also saw 31 hate/bias incidents reported in 2022 that didn't meet the thresh- old ofa hate crime. Wilkie said these mostly involved racial or ethnic rhetoric communicated through social media or during in-person conflicts. The report noted mem- bers of Halton's Black com- munity were the grou most targeted by these Graham Paine/Metroland Halton police Chief Stephen Tanner. hate-related occurrences with 21 incidents, followed by members of the LGBTQ2S+ community with 18 incidents, South Asian individuals with 11 incidents, members of the Jewish community with nine incidents, those of decent with five incidents, mem- bers of the Muslim com- munit e inci- dents, East Asian people with two incidents, Euro. pean people with two inci- dents, women with one in- cident, Hispanic people with one incident and Cau- casian people with one in- cident. It was acknowledged during the meeting that there i is most likely a sig- lice are attempting to tack- le future hate incidents from a number of angles. He said hate and bias crime investigat ition train- Police also conducted outreach to various Halton communities, so these » i 1 comfort- = ture, “pad 10 haley vat. tern, and were believed to be committed by individu- als and not by organized groups,” said Wilkie in the report. “These impact factors, combined with a lack of eyewitnesses as well as a lack of physical evidence, makes the investigation in- to hate-related occurr Despite these challeng. es, Wilkie noted that for 2 27 per cent of 2022's 78 hate- related occurrences, the sponsible being identified and the case cleared. Wilkie noted Halton po- able approaching police § and reporting hate crimes if they occur. Officers also watch for high profile incidents tak- ing place around the world and then conduct proac- tive patrols at places of worship or other locations to ensure local ups are not the target of similar or courts do not take hate crimes as Seriously as they should given the impact these crim S have on The board and Tanner resolved to send the attor- ney general of Ontario and the solicitor general corre- spondence on this matter. *TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLY <> Turn to the experts HEATING & COOLING ‘www.aireonewest.c: = BBB. ! Watson Investments “Our clients enjoy talking about their retirement dreams and we enjoy helping them get there.” Peter & Jennifer Accepting new clients. Please visit it com to book a free consultation. Offering safe virtual meetings and e-signatures for new client onboarding. info@watsoninvestments.com ®& (905) 842 -2100 Jennifer Watson MBA, CFP®, CIM® Peter Watson MBA, CFP®, R.F.P., CIM®, FCS! | soneog omlmyeo | ¢ 3 = 3 8 8 i 3 3