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2 g 5 wer | Thursday, June insidehalton.com IB CRIME : COMMUNITY TRUST DEFICIT’ A MAJOR CHALLENGE: ADVOCATE HATE CRIME 3 Continued from page 1 munity consultations. Her report was released gto apialton police in late when it comes to hate crimes. "We're still seeing some problems i in terms of under- standing hate crimes, the legislation that surrounds it, how to , Gontity hate crimes, what indicators rry."I_ think there is also some. me resistance to the notion of a hate crime as something distinct. So, an. assault that is motivated by hate some people say, ‘It's still an assault. What dif- ference does it make what the motivation was? It makes a huge difference to the individuals and to the community and I think that is something that is still not being grasped by a number ton police officer She also said Halton po- lice need to heighten mes- saging that equity, diversity and inclusion anc crime concerns area whale of the service" responsibili- Dreamstime photo According to Statistics Canada, the number of police-reported hate crimes has increased by 72 per cent from 2019 to 2021. cluding but not limited to the Equity, Diversity and In- clusion office, the Investigations Bureau, In- telligence and Victim Ser- vices. Perry suggested that Halton police could work to overcome any prosecutorial issues _ reg: crimes by sates “ working relationship with the designated hate crime crown in Halto: “There was a sense in the interviews and in the sur- vey I did with community members that their voices are not always heard as a community or even as vic- tims," said Perry. "People talked about their experi- " Another tion called for the creation of an integrated hate crime team that draws from offi- cers across the service, in- when. they tried to report a hate crime. They were ford they were overreacting 01 the incident was ust 2 a joe or a prank. Minimizing the trauma, even for relatively minor incidents, can be traumatic and really dam- aging bum individuals and communities." She als also called on police to expand public presenta- tions with the aim of en- hancing the community's understanding crimes and the timits of hate crime oe arti further empha- sized the need for Halton po- lice to engage with ¢ the "crit- ical voices" in the communi- ty and include these voices on the Diversity Advisory Committee and other simi- Jar bodies. Set. smith, Halton Police Equity, Diversity and Inclusion officer noted that while some of the things in Perry's report were hard to hear, steps have already been taken toa act on her rec- ommenc Some of "this work in- cludes: + Adding three additional WITH CARE SOLUTIONS Are you or your aging parent finding it difficult dealing with a later in life transition or health crisis? Are you unsure of what next steps to take? 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Smith said future initia- tives would involve creating better co-ordination be- tween the Halton police Eqg- hate crime crown to discuss hate ct crime prosecution. m police are also pane to hold a sympo- sium on hate crimes for var- ious community organiza- tions in the near future and in late March they launched their #NoHateInHalton camps effort to combat hate incidents and ncourage residents to re- Always Here to Help You! ¥ Patient Counselling port these incidents when they happen. When reached for com- ment Andrew’ Tyrrell, presi- ‘ib- said Halton police need to be acknowledged for their transparency in having Per- ry review their policies and then making her report publicly available. "It is rare that a service will open up its potice icies and practices to be au- dited by an external party, sing systemic issues shat could be per- to their Seriatien. said rell. "The fact that Halton police welcomed Dr. Perry for this evaluation and their less to implement key recommendations to improve their processes is commendable." Tyrrell said it is impor- tant that police officers re- ceive additional training to pre’ crimes from tninimized and treat- ed as minor in the future. le also said it was posi- SHOPPERS DRUG MART DE RANGO PHARMACY INC. / Free Nutrition Counsell 9 Vaccinations / Cholesterol, AIC, AFib and DNA Screening / Free RX Delivery tive that police recognize hate crimes are under re- ported and will be working with diverse communities so people feel comfortable talking to police about these incidents. id his organiza- font is encouraging police to groups uniquely noting the nature of the hate crime and the victim experience is dif- ferent for Indigenous peo- ples, Blacks, Muslims, and reasons for Halton police to rove their response to these incidents. crimes are on the rise in Halton with police re- porting 40 hate crime inci- dents in 2022 compared to 31 in 2021. Deputy Chief Roger Wil- kie said 29 of the 2022 hate crimes involved property e/vandalism wit hate-related slurs or sym- bols being spray-painted or scratched on public and pri- vate propel Other incidents involved the theft of Pride flags. The The to report back on the prog- ress of implementing Per- ry's recommendations in six months. Perry herself was asked pact of her recommenda- tions and if there is still room for improvement.