Date: Thursday, May 18, 2023
Unit: Intelligence Services
Phone: 4168083500
Case #: NA
At the Toronto Police Services Board meeting today, the Toronto Police Service presented its Annual Hate Crime Statistical Report for 2022, outlining a slight decrease in the total number of hate crime occurrences reported to the Service.
Compared to 2021, the number of reported occurrences decreased approximately 6% from 257 to 242. The number of reported hate crimes in 2022 is 74% higher than the pre-pandemic level in 2019, which was approximately 139, and 40% higher than the 10-year average (2013-2022), which is approximately 173 per year.
In 2022, hate crimes targeting members of the Jewish community, Black community, and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Two-Spirit (LGBTQ2S+) communities were the most common types of reported hate crimes. The three most frequently reported criminal offences motivated by hate in 2022 were mischief to property, assault, and uttering threats.
- The Jewish community and the Black community were the most frequently victimized groups for hate-motivated mischief to property occurrences
- The LGBTQ2S+ communities were the most frequently victimized groups for hate-motivated assault occurrences
- The Black community and the LGBTQ2S+ communities were the most frequently victimized groups for hate-motivated uttering threats
Although anti-East and South East Asian hate crimes decreased in 2022, the percentage of hate crimes targeting the Asian community remained higher than pre-pandemic levels. Notably, the Asian community were the most frequently victimized group on public transit.
Overall, hate crimes in public transit decreased by 15% in 2022 with 33 reported occurrences. Hate-motivated assaults and mischief-related offences were the two most commonly reported crimes on public transit, representing 45% and 36% of the total offence types.
The Service also observed an increase in the number of hate crimes reported at schools (52), however 90% of these hate crimes were non-violent mischief–related offences. Assault-related and uttering threats offences accounted for the remaining 10% of the 52 reported occurrences.
There was also an increase in anti-Ukrainian and anti-Russian hate crimes reported to the Service following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The high number of anti-Ukrainian hate crimes in 22 Division correlates with the high Ukrainian population in the division.
“Hate motivated crimes in our city have lasting impacts on individuals, family, friends, and the many diverse communities we serve across Toronto. Despite seeing a slight drop in reported hate crimes in 2022, we know they continue to be under reported for several reasons, including fear and retaliation,” said Deputy Chief Robert Johnson. “Hate crimes remain a priority for our Service and we will continue to work alongside our communities to break down barriers and foster an atmosphere of trust, as we encourage those impacted by these crimes to report them to police.”
In 2022, the Hate Crime Unit actively engaged in community outreach focused on increasing awareness of hate crimes and community resources available to support victims, including:
- Collaborating with the Service’s Community Partnership and Engagement Unit, including divisional Neighbourhood Community Officers and community organizations, to provide education, public safety, and to address community concerns about hate crimes.
- The development of an internal hate crime dashboard to support the Service in identifying emerging hate crime trends along with an external facing hate crime dashboard for public information, available later this year.
- In addition to English and Korean, translating the Service’s hate crime pamphlet into 20 more languages
- Sharing public information about hate crime investigations, hate crime awareness and the reporting of these crimes through divisional investigators and TPS Corporate Communications
The Annual Hate Crime Statistical Report provides data about criminal offences that are committed against persons or property which are motivated by bias, prejudice or hate based on the victim's race, nationality or ethnic origin, language, colour, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual or gender orientation or expression, or any other similar factor.
The data is based on hate crimes reported to the Toronto Police Service between January 1 and December 31, 2022.
The report was presented to the Toronto Police Services Board today and can be found on the May 18, 2023, TPSB agenda.
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Ashling Murphy for Corporate Communications
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