Crime Stoppers, police launch hate crime awareness campaign

Toronto police and Crime Stoppers are partnering to launch a new hate crime awareness campaign. They say it comes at a time when hate-related incidents in the city are reaching record highs.

The goal of the campaign is to encourage people to report hate crimes to the police or anonymously through Toronto Crime Stoppers in a way that is more accessible to the community.

"Hate crimes weigh heavily on entire communities," said Nick Migliore, director of Toronto Crime Stoppers and a member of the Toronto Police Service Board.

"We know that the impact of crime motivated by hate is significant, far-reaching and extending far beyond physical and emotional trauma," he added.

The campaign is comprised of a selection of social media ads, plus radio public service announcements.

"Anonymously saying something to Toronto Crime Stoppers about a hate-motivated crime not only keeps our communities safe, it may also save someone's life," said Toronto Crime Stoppers Chair Sean Sportun.

The service also gave an update on alleged hate crime occurrences in the city since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, saying antisemitic-motivated incidents continue to be a top concern.

"Of the reported hate crimes so far in 2024, over half are antisemitic and last month was the highest number of antisemitic occurrences for the last three years," Deputy Chief Robert Johnson told reporters.

Since Oct. 7, he said, Toronto police have attended 941 hate crime calls. Those calls have resulted in 72 arrests and 182 charges.

"We are attending an average of 155 hate crime calls for service a month," Johnson added. "While we saw a reduction in calls for service for hate crimes in December and January, unfortunately we saw a 67 per cent increase for calls in February."

Hate crime occurrences rising: police

All communities are impacted by hate crime occurrences, police say, and it's not just antisemitism rising throughout the city.

"The second highest bias category this year is that of the 2SLGBTQI+ hate crime, followed by anti-Black," Johnson told reporters.

It's something community members in Toronto's Gay Village say they've noticed for years.

"We see everything from hateful graffiti using derogatory comments and hate-motivated language," Curran Stikuts, advocacy & strategic communications director for The 519 told CBC Toronto.

"It runs the gamut from everyday harassment and intimidation to serious acts of violence. That is not unique to the Village. It's something we hear about across Toronto and across Canada."

B'nai Brith Canada, the country's oldest Jewish human rights organization, says police are doing a good job at keeping track of hate crimes in its community, but says more needs to be done.

"The police can really only do so much within their mandate," said Richard Robertson, the organization's director of research and advocacy. "Antisemitism is a difficult issue to handle. It requires a response from all levels of government; federal, provincial and municipal."

He says B'nai Brith has its own tracking system. It makes use of a 24/7 anti-hate hotline and has an anti-hate app.

Underreporting of crime

Anti-Muslim, anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian hate crimes are also rising, say police.

Police say in some instances, underreporting of crimes deflates the true statistics.

"Islamophobia is a significant concern, and given our statistics, I am concerned about the substantial underreporting in this area," Johnson said. "We have had five reports this year, which is not at all reflective of what we're hearing in conversation with members of our Muslim communities."

The National Council of Canadian Muslims agrees that cases of Islamophobia are going underreported in Toronto.

"We have seen incidents reported to us at over 1,300 per cent," said Fatema Abdalla, the organization's advocacy director.

Police say underreporting among Muslim communities may be linked to language barriers and distrust in law enforcement or the justice system.

"We are working very hard to build that trust and be available to them," said Supt. Katherine Stephenson. "We have command posts that are strategically placed visiting mosques around the city."

"They may not call police, but having a police officer in front of them gives them that opportunity to ask questions about what it looks like to report," she said.

The NCCM says language barriers may play a small role in underreporting, but doesn't think it is the underlying cause.

"It could be one of many reasons for why people don't feel comfortable reporting, but I think right now as it stands, individuals are feeling a sense of mistrust," Abdalla said.

Through its recent initiatives, Toronto police say they have increased the amount of officers involved in its hate crime unit from six to 32.