There has been a steep rise in racist incidents in Aberdeen reported to police- with a “significant” number of attacks aimed at emergency service workers across the city.
North-east chief superintendent Campbell Thomson presented the city crime figures, collated from April to September last year, to the council’s public protection committee.
While crime across the board has been reduced year on year in the city, incidents of racial hate crime have escalated by nearly 10%.
A report to members showed there were 124 hate crimes reported in the period – which was up by 11 on the previous year.
The report read: “Hate crimes are isolated incidents across the city and not borne out of any long-standing underlying issues, with no particular trends identified.
“The detection rate has remained virtually constant and is still well above the current force average for such crime.”
Ch Supt Thomson moved to reassure the committee that the force had not found a “new trend”, but added that the numbers were “far too many”.
He said: “There has been an increase of 11 incidents and a significant number of the incidents are aimed at the emergency service workers.
“Every one of these incidents affects an individual. 124 incidents is far too many and an increase of 11 is far too many.
“My view in relation to the city is that it is a strength of partnerships right across the city giving people confidence to report these incidents.”
Committee member, and former member of Grampian police board, Martin Greig said: “It is really shocking that these attacks are being aimed at emergency service workers.
“I have serious concerns that individuals are not reporting racist and hate crimes to police. Such incidents are increasing across the UK, so I can understand why Aberdeen and the north-east is being similarly affected.
“The real worry is that victims become so used to abuse that they don’t report it and it becomes normalised in our society.”
Other findings were that 1,381 assaults were recorded, a 12% drop on the five-year average and also down from the same period in 2018, when 1,389 were recorded.
There was an 82% rise in seizures of money and drugs from gangsters, with the police recovered £185,433 in illicit cash and substances.
