Fifteen people a day become victims of hate crimes in Greater Manchester, new figures reveal.
Police have released the data which is based on a broader definition and includes crimes against disabled, gay and transgender people, and other minority groups.
A total of 5,348 hate crimes were recorded in Greater Manchester last year – accounting for 10.5 per cent of incidents recorded by 44 forces throughout England and Wales.
They included 4,406 racially-motivated crimes and 359 motivated by religion – the highest in the country outside London.
But the number of race-hate crimes actually represented a drop of 12pc on the previous year.
GMP also recorded 497 homophobic crimes, 12 ‘transphobic’ crimes, and 74 against disabled people.
While most other forces recorded no anti-Semitic crimes, GMP dealt with 198.
Senior GMP sources said the figures, released by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), reflected Greater Manchester’s diversity and the seriousness of the force’s approach to hate crime.
Deputy Chief Constable Simon Byrne said: “It is encouraging to see that the number of racist incidents in Greater Manchester has fallen by nearly 12pc in the past year.
“Racially motivated crime is wholly abhorrent in all its forms and GMP vigorously investigates all allegations of hate crime, irrespective of the ethnic heritage of the victim or offender, so I would encourage anyone who is a victim of racism to report it.
“All 12 police areas in Greater Manchester have a Community and Race Relations Officer who liaises with their local communities to encourage reporting.
“Victims can also report any incidents through the GMP website or at one of the many reporting centres in outside agencies.”
Chief Constable Stephen Otter, from ACPO, said: “Hate crimes cause a great deal of harm.
By publishing this data, and demonstrating the service’s commitment to open reporting of hate crime,we hope to encourage victims and witnesses to come forward.”
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