Halifax hate criminal numbers are increasing, but the police say that she remains underrhernated.

The latest figures show that hate crimes in Halifax and Nova Scotia continue to rise, with politics as well as national and global conflicts often have an impact, the police said.

On Wednesday, Halifax Board of Police Commissioners from Halifax Regional Police and Halifax RCMP heard about how they deal with hate crimes and deal with communities.

121 hate crimes were reported in the municipality in 2023, and according to Statistics Canada in 20222.

As a result, Halifax remains at a speed of 23 incidents per 100,000 people, which is the fifth highest in Canada. The highest prices were registered in Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo (33.9), Peterborough (33.5) and Ottawa-Gatineau (30.5).

Const. Madeleine Goldsmith, Diversity Inclusion Officer at HRP, informed the board that these crimes are still being subjected to a lot.

“The statistics are quite scary if they think about it from this perspective. We really look at the tip of the iceberg,” said Goldsmith.

Nova Scotia had the highest rate in Canada in 2023 on hatred crimes reported by the police with 18 incidents per 100,000 people. Nunavut was second, followed by Ontario.

In Halifax, the targeted feature is the breed, with hatred of black, South Asian and Arabic/West Asian groups that are most common. A personnel report says that hate against actual or perceived newcomers (xenophobia) is the second largest characteristics, then sexual orientation, religion and gender.

This generally fits the national trend, with the exception of religion, the second largest characteristics in Canada, year over a year.

Goldsmith said she often hears that people do not want to report incidents out of fear of retaliation, a distrust of the police or from this kind of situations.

“It is alarming when we talk to communities and talk about what a hate crime is legally below the law, and … they are like 'Oh – no idea that it was a hate crime. That is only behavior that I get so often, it is normalized,” said Goldsmith.

Goldsmith said that in contrast to other crimes, these cases can influence a “unique” community width. When graffiti is painted in a shop to target the owner, anyone in the community who reports this identity can experience the same fear, she said.

Only 14 cases were charged with the 121 hate crimes registered in Halifax for 2023.

Goldsmith said it was often difficult to find who committed the crime. In a case in which graffiti was involved, the person responsible would have disappeared, for example, if it was discovered, she said. There may not be enough evidence or victims may not want to go through the legal proceedings.

Rating Tony Mancini asked whether the Halifax police in the light of the comments by US President Donald Trump recorded an increase in hate crimes “that there are only two genders” or his campaign against diversity, justice and inclusion initiatives.

“What can we do?” Said Mancini. “To hear that hate crimes are housed because it is [felt] Normalized behavior is unacceptable. “

Anecdotically, said Goldsmith, she hears that old rights groups become louder and more open in her thoughts “which can certainly affect the statistics on graffiti”. She said that the 2SLGBTQ+ community had to do with a “general feeling of fear” according to Trump's comments, and other communities have told her that they hear “encouraged voices” that show them more hatred.

National politics also plays a role, said Goldsmith. When Canadian immigration policy changed last year to reduce the number of new constant residents, she said that international students in Halifax were “increased pressure” and isolation.

Polarized politics makes the task of the police “much more difficult”

“Social polarization is really a driving factor for the increase in hatred,” said Goldsmith. “It is sad to see that politics moves nationally and geopolitically into this polarized state. It makes our job much more difficult.”

Hass crimes are criminal offenses that are motivated by hate or prejudices and can include someone who makes racist insults when he attacks someone or graffiti with discriminatory language.

Both police forces from Halifax also pursue hate incidents that are not criminal acts, but still behaviors that are motivated by bias or prejudice. Examples could be that racial or religious incompations are used, or someone who is said to return to his country of origin.

Between 2022 and 2024, HRP and Halifax RCMP recorded 742 hate incidents in the region, with the vast majority (711) from the HRP -city area.

Joanne Smith, research and development coordinator with HRP, said this data was helpful to determine whether certain areas or populations are targeted. In this way, public relations and education of the community could prevent things from escalating to a criminal level.

Commissioner Yemi Akindoju, who is black, said that he had also experienced many hateful comments on the golf course.

“The reason why it is not reported is that it is just too often too often,” he said.

The personnel report said that a factor for rising statistics was probably an increase in police attention and enforcement. HRP set up its hate criminal unit in 2022. She is currently occupied with a detective, but a second will probably start her training in November.

The Nova Scotia RCMP has a coordinator of hate crime that checks cases and provides the mountains in the province of specialist knowledge.

The Halifax employee report said the number of hate crimes registered by the police rose throughout Canada. They rose by 32 percent between 2022 (3,612) and 2023 (4,777), which marked the third increase in four years. The total number in Canada has more than doubled since 2019.