Scotland Yard launches new anti-hate crime unit

Scotland Yard today launched a first-of-its-kind specialist anti-hate crime unit to investigate and prevent online abuse in the wake of a spike in such crimes.
The five-officer strong Metropolitan Police unit 'Online Hate Crime Hub' is being funded by the Met and the London Mayor's Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC).
The UK Home Office Police Innovation Fund also contributes 452,000 pounds for the unit which is expected to cost 1.7-million pounds over two years.
"We know hate crime has a huge impact on those who experience it, and that online hate, where abusers mistakenly believe they are hidden behind a screen, can be particularly damaging," London mayor Sadiq Khan said as he launched the drive.

"My approach is clear: there must be zero tolerance of this behaviour, and we are working to improve protection for victims by taking advice from anti-hate organisations, who will examine whether something is actively causing harm and should be removed," he said.
All forms of online hate crimes reported to police in London, including abuse posted on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, will be investigated by the unit.

The officers will provide referrals to victim support groups and work with police in relevant boroughs to investigate further.
City Hall said discussions were also under way with social media companies to develop appropriate "online sanctions" for perpetrators of online hate.

UK police forces monitorhatecrimesunder five broad strands of race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or trans-gender identity.
Hatecrimeis defined by police as "anycriminaloffence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards someone based on a personal characteristic".
According to latest analysis, there has been a noticeable spike in hate crimes in the wake of the Brexit referendum vote in June last year.
In 2015-16 there were 62,518 offences recorded by the police in which one or morehatecrimestrands were deemed to be a motivating factor.
This was an increase of 19 per cent compared with the 52,465hatecrimesrecorded in 2014-15.