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14
Oct
Harrogate district has ‘disproportionate level of hate crime’, says deputy mayor
Harrogate has a disproportionately high level of hate crime compared with the rest of the county, according to Jo Coles, the Labour deputy mayor for York and North Yorkshire.
Ms Coles told a Harrogate District Chamber of Commerce meeting last night (October 13) she was “really worried” about the situation following this month’s shooting at a synagogue in Manchester.
Turning to the situation in Harrogate, she said:
Across York and North Yorkshire over the last year there were just over 1,300 hate crime recorded and 17%, or 225, happened in the Harrogate district so there is a lot to do.
Harrogate probably has a disproportionate level of hate crime compared with some other parts of the region, so it is something I intend to keep an eye on.
Ms Coles, who said she suspected hate crime was under-reported, added she had visited Harrogate’s synagogue following the Manchester shooting.
She said:
We have seen increasing community tensions over the last few weeks. I’m worried about ensuring no matter what people’s religion is, they are able to practise their religion free from hate, violence and intimidation. None of those things should have any place in our communities and yet when I went to the synagogue in Harrogate and talked to the community that is how they are feeling.
Jo Coles (centre) with (left) James Farrar, chief executive of York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority and chamber president Phill Holdsworth at last night's meeting.
Visible policing
In April, the Home Office allocated £1.95 million towards creating 52 extra neighbourhood police officers in North Yorkshire.
It was part of a four-year government programme that aims to see 13,000 extra police officers, police constable support officers and special constables brought into neighbourhood policing roles in England and Wales by the end of this Parliament.
Ms Coles told last night’s meeting:
I hear all the time from people who say they never see police officers. I am therefore completely determined to ensure we build that visible policing in our communities.
Already in North Yorkshire we have had £2 million in additional funding. That means we have had 32 more PCs and 20 new PCSOs, which for the Harrogate police command area means 15 more police officers and 12 more PCSOs. That’s happened in the last year, and we are determined to do more.
Retail crime crackdown
Ms Coles also claimed North Yorkshire Police was taking a tougher approach to retail crime, with crackdowns in Harrogate and Ripon in June.
She said the issue was particularly “close to home” for Labour mayor David Skaith, who owns a menswear shop in York.
She added:
Retail crime is a huge issue for businesses.
We know that it’s been a growing problem over the last few years in particular. We spoke to dozens of businesses last year as part of a consultation. Since the beginning of this year, we have got together businesses, national experts and police and I am now monitoring the performance of retail crime.
Ms Coles also told the meeting 1 in 3 reported crimes now involved fraud or cybercrime and there was still a “misconception it affects mainly older people”.
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