Hate Crimes Research Essay

A multicultural nation, Canada has a very diverse populace. According to the 2011 National Household Survey, there has been an increase in the percentage of people who identify as a minority group since 2006. (Perry, 2015). Along with this, there has been a rise in the proportion of individuals who identify with groups other than Christianity over time. There are predictions that the population of Canada will diversify and become more multicultural, according to research. The percentage of Canadians who identify as a minority group is expected to rise by 2036, according to projections. (Allen, 2014). As the change in the Canadian’s demographics intensifies, there is a potential for the rise in hate motivated crimes against either groups or individuals.

A hate crime is any criminal act that is motivated by hate. These crimes not only affect the people but also, they are unique to the communities. Hate crimes can either be violent or non-violent. According to the Canadian criminal code, public incitement to hatred, advocacy of genocide, willful promotion of hatred and any activity motivated by hate concerning religion property. In 2015, there was an increase in the number of hate crimes reported by the police amounting to 5% more than in 2014 (Allen, 2014). The increase in the number of cases was attributed to hate crimes which were motivated by hatred and religion and race and ethnicity. This paper aims at describing an area in the policing unit that has been for long been over reported.

There has been an increase in the number of immigrants and refugees in the European nations leading to increased organized attacks by people within organized hate groups against the refugees and the immigrants especially in their business, the hostels as well as their religious organizations. The hate crimes are carried out in different forms ranging from murder, destruction of property, harassment, and the making of threats. Some of the factors that have enhanced the hate crimes include economic competition and the manipulation of particular political groups as well as the existence of cultural differences among the community members.

The cases of hate crimes reported by the police are not only carried out by the hate groups but also, they are committed by individuals whom the victims have been in contact. Research indicates that majority of the hate crimes are perpetrated by male counterparts who have dropped out of school, and in most cases, they experience problems while trying to adjust (Rabrenovi p.143). Therefore, there is the need to educate the youngsters who are already in the institutions of learning, and this can go a long way in the reduction of the cases of hate crimes.

Cases of hate crimes in Canada are collected by different departments in the police department, through victimization surveys as well as various community groups. There are no specific centralized systems for the collection of hate motivated crimes in the police departments. There are limited data as pertains to the hate crimes and therefore, it proves the inaccuracy of the collection of hate crime related data. There also lacks a legislative about the collection of hate crimes statistics by the municipal, provincial and the federal agencies. Therefore, it has proven difficult to collect comparable data since it is primarily done in a non-standardized manner.

Due to the lack of a legislative mandate in dealing with the hate crimes, various police units have been established in dealing with the specialized hate crimes especially the ones involving the minority groups. Through the establishment of close contacts with the minorities, it has proven t be easier actually to respond to the demands of these specialized communities. The police units have enhanced the collection of data on hate crimes in Canada. However, there are still case reporting the hate crimes incidences. While the different police units have established policies and procedures about the hate crimes, there are still some challenges which are experienced about data collection, and as a result, it has become difficult to establish the criminal activity in the country through the various police recorded incidents.

According to a report by the policing unit, the majority of the crime and hate occurrences were motivated by religion accounting to 46% of the total reported cases. Over the years, there have been a high number of reports regarding hate crimes involving minority groups whereas more attention should be focused in other areas. It is estimated that in Canada, there is some minority groups and chances are they may subject to hate crimes in one way or another. Research suggests that, in 2016, the Jewish and the Muslim communities were the most victimized groups in 2016. Moreover, of the cases reported on hate and biased states, ethnicity and race contributed. The criminal acts took different forms such as assault, criminal harassment, theft, and mischief.

The police department plays a critical role in the identification of the suspects through a collection of physical evidence at the crime scenes. Various forms of information gathering are used such as collection of DNA samples, photographing the scene as well as a collection of recording s and clothing for essential forensic examination. Out of the total committed crimes in 2016, the victims and the witness were only able to provide information about the suspects or the accused of only 49% of the total number of occurrences (Dauvergne, 2016). It is often difficult to identify suspects involved in hate crimes since the witness is rarely found at the crime scenes. In 2016, the victims and the witness were only able to provide suspect information for only 11% of the total cases reported involving mischief and property occurrences (Dauvergne, 2016).

Among the charged individuals, males were the most dominant group in the 18-25 age groups accounting for 84 cases compared to the females who accounted for8 cases. From these findings, it is evident that there have been difficulties among the police in the identification of the perpetrators of hate crimes regarding the gender as well as the age specifics. Researchers have been identifying that there have been problems in understanding hate violence. Officials in the public and the government sector have taken time to prove the existence of hate crimes in the society as well as admitting indeed it is a social problem. As a result, it has made it hard for the relevant personnel to deal with the hate crimes. In the same way, there are some areas where the issue of hate crime has been acknowledged. However, there still lacks a systematic way for the collection of substantial evidence on the issue as well as the individuals who are affected and how they are affected.

Under reporting of the hate crimes has been one of the problems that is faced in the Policing Unit. Much of the literature suggests that victims involved in hate crimes are less likely to report the cases of victimization to the police (Janhevich 2001). Another issue is the rate of under reporting among certain targeted groups which makes it a bone of contention. Research shows that there has been under reporting of cases of hate crimes which involves the sexual orientation especially for the victims which include different ethnic groups. Various reasons have been described on the grounds for the under reporting of the majority of the hate crimes. They include the fear of reprisal from the perpetrators, the fear of mistrust of law enforcement because different individuals come from the various ethnic groups (Janhevich 2001). Another reason is the belief that most of the police officers do not take the issue of victimization seriously and as a result, police officers are viewed as sources of victimization as well. Due to the under reporting of such cases, it becomes difficult to establish the actual hate crime rates due to the incomplete analysis of the data. Some of the agencies which reports differ regarding the report given. As a result, there is no particular baseline for statistics.

To help in curbing the cases of hate violence, the government came up with measures such as laws which criminalized hate crimes; however, various challenges have been faced in the implementation phase. As such it has proven difficult to train the police on the identification of the time when the hate crime is committed as well as increasing the willingness of the court to prosecute the suspects basing on the evidence provided as well as the development of measures and strategies to help in curbing future crimes (Janhevich 2001).

Another difficulty in the management of hate crimes is the collection of accurate data about hate crimes. Among the police, some of the problems that have been identified include the documentation of the hate violence, in this case, the police are unwilling, and at the same time, they lack an organized way of identifying any incident that is biased and also reporting o the information to the relevant authority. Another challenge that is often experienced is the development of expertise in dealing with the hate crimes. Departments which are willing to collect data also face various challenges due to their inability to classify the hate crimes correctly due to their ambiguous states. As such, the police officers are unable to make the most appropriate judgment especially when the hate crimes have various motivations (Rabrenovic 2007). Also, for some police officers, they lack adequate expertise about the recognition of hate crimes, and as a result, they face challenges trying to recognize them.

In a research by Iganski, police often face challenges in trying to collect data concerning the anti-Semitic incidents. Moreover, there are some problems which are experienced in seeking to distinguish between the race based and the anti-Semitic motivation about the hate crimes (Iganski, 2001). As a result of inaccurate data provided by the police unit, it becomes difficult to make the most appropriate support for the victims involved. Other researchers urge that the public, as well as the prosecutors, are always slow in defining crimes as hate crimes (Janhevich 2012). This is based on the fact that for a crime to be classified as a hate crime; there is the need to provide substantial evidence.

Among the minority groups, various policies have been put in place with the aim of making them feel appreciated. In this case, the welfare of these communities is provided with the most minimum resources regarding health care, schooling and housing (Iganski, 2001). Some of the challenges that make the minority groups prone to hate crimes include lack of political power among themselves as well as political representation. These groups most often tend to feel like they are second class citizens as a result of their low living standards, their segregation from the society as well as lack of representation in the political power (Rabrenovic 2007). In the same way, with the increased case of hate violence, there is also the failure of the state in recognition of the principal causes of hate crimes as well as the solutions to those challenges (Iganski, 2001).

Further, there is the need for the state to recognize the importance of taking hate crime seriously since in the event the society ignores the hate crimes, there are increased chances that they will grow bigger and may become harder to solve. Moreover, the community needs to be involved in dealing with hate crimes for the sake of proving the most appropriate and efficient means of dealing with the hate crimes (Iganski, 2001). Ways in which the society has been involved include the involvement of the civil societies as well as educational institutions which helps in increasing the understanding of the various groups and their enhanced corporation. Another way in which the organization has been involved in dealing with hate crimes is the education of the community members in respect of the diversity to ensure it is practiced.

The management of the Hate crimes in Canada requires proper data collection and the evidence, proper documentation to ensure the most effective strategies are put in place to ensure there is a reduction of the hate crimes. Some of the challenges that have been encountered regarding classification of the hate crimes require that the police unit becomes vigilant in evidence collection. The government has come up with the strategies to help in dealing with the hate crimes; however, it has still proven difficult to come up with a lasting solution. The existence of the minority groups has been associated with various problems with majority of the hate crimes being reported by the various police units regarding the hate crimes. There is the need for the policing units to gather more information regarding these crimes so as to come up with a lasting solution.

Work cited

Allen, Mary. “Police-reported hate crime in Canada, 2012.” Juristat: Canadian center for justice statistics (2014): 1.

Dauvergne, Mia. Hate crime in Canada, 2006. Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, 2008.

Iganski, Paul. “Hate crimes hurt more.” American Behavioral Scientist 45.4 (2001): 626-638.

Janhevich, Derek E. Hate crime in Canada: An overview of issues and data sources. Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 2001.

Perry, B. (2015). Disrupting the Mantra of Multiculturalism: Hate Crime in Canada. American Behavioral Scientist, 59(13), 1637-1654.

Rabrenovic, Gordana. “Introduction: Responding to hate violence: New challenges and solutions.” (2007): 143-148.