The “slight uplift” in Islamophobia following the Westminster terror attack may be attributable to the authorities actively encouraging Muslims to come forward with allegations following so-called “trigger events”.
Acting Metropolitan Police Commissioner Craig Mackey said there was a “slight uplift” in so-called “Islamophobic incidents” following the attack, although he confessed the increase was “small, and far smaller than we have seen in previous events”.
Acting Met commissioner Craig Mackey says there has been a slight increase in Islamophobic incidents since the Westminster terror attack.
— LBC Breaking (@lbcbreaking) March 29, 2017
Breitbart London contacted the Metropolitan Police press bureau for more information on the numbers behind this claim, and New Scotland Yard provided the following incident log:
- Wednesday (day of incident): 2 Islamophobic incidents
- Thursday: 10 Islamophobic incidents
- Friday: 11 Islamophobic incidents
- Saturday: 5 Islamophobic incidents
- Sunday: 8 Islamophobic incidents
- Monday: 3 Islamophobic incidents
The statement which New Scotland Yard sent along with its figures suggests the rise may not be due to a genuine increase in Islamophobia, but could instead be due to a “community engagement plan” which sees the authorities actively encourage Muslims to come forward with allegations following what they describe as “trigger events”:
“Where we identify a possible trigger event that could result in more hate crime we instigate a community engagement plan to ensure those in communities who may be victims of hate crime know that we will not tolerate this kind of crime and that we encourage them to report this to the police,” they wrote.
The statement also revealed the sheer scale of the Met’s efforts to boost hate crime recordings – in line with official government policy – with some 900 specialists now focused on this area.
“Over the last two years, the MPS has increased specialist investigators within the 32 London borough community safety units by 30 per cent, with more than 900 specialist member of staff dedicated to investigating all hate crime,” the statement added.
It should also be noted that the above incident log does not describe actual recorded crimes, but only hate crime allegations. These are recorded as “incidents” regardless of whether or not the reports can be substantiated.
The College of Policing’s Hate Crime Operational Guidance manual explicitly states: “For recording purposes, the perception of the victim, or any other person, is the defining factor in determining whether an incident is a hate incident,” and that “the victim does not have to justify or provide evidence of their belief, and police officers or staff should not directly challenge this perception. Evidence of the hostility is not required for an incident or crime to be recorded as a hate crime or hate incident.”
In June 2016, Essex police force Assistant Chief Constable Maurice Mason admitted that some of the “hate crimes” reported following the Brexit vote included “members of the public complaining about Nigel Farage, or whatever … [But] if the person feels it’s a hate crime it will get recorded as a hate crime”.
Breitbart London asked New Scotland Yard if any of the incidents they logged following the Westminster attack actually resulted in charges, but they declined to say without a formal Freedom of Information request – which authorities do not have to respond to for twenty days.
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