Hate crimes for the most part are committed by bullies who prey on the weak in a diverse city as ours.

The number of hate crimes last year in Toronto rose by less than 2%, according to a Toronto Police Service Annual Hate Crime Statistical Report.

Police says the number of hate crimes occurrences increased from 137 in 2018 to 139 last year.

The report with keeps track of hate crimes states that from 2010 to 2019 there has been about 145 hate crimes reported yearly. There were 18 people arrested in 2018 and 23 last year for hate offences.

“A significant percentage of reported hate crime occurrences in 2019 involve allegations of mischief to property (i.e. graffiti) in circumstances where there was limited or no suspect description available,” Hate Crime Unit (HCU) officers say, adding in most cases there were no witnesses.

“These factors present considerable challenges to these types of investigations and arresting suspects,” police notes.

The most targeted communities for hate crimes last year were; members of the Jewish community, followed by the LGBTQ community, then members of the Black and Muslim communities.

“The Jewish community was the most frequently victimized group for mischief to property and utter threat occurrences,” the report states. “The LGBTQ community, followed by the Black community were the most frequently victimized group for assault occurrences.”

Police say a number of factors can affect the fluctuation in the number of reported hate crimes and the community groups who are victimized.

“These factors include international events, community educational programs, hate crime training, and increased reporting,” according to detectives.

Some 15 of the 139 hate occurrences investigated last year were categorized as multi-bias, in that they targeted more than one group.  In 2018, about 21 of the 137 hate occurrences were categorized as multi-bias.

In 2017 and 2016, the number of mischief relating to religious property occurrences were five and zero. Today the Jewish community, followed by the Muslim and Catholic communities are the predominant victim group for mischief to religious property and educational institutions.

The HCU is a sub-unit of Intelligence Services – Security Section. The unit was established in 1993 and is responsible for collecting, analyzing and publishing data on reported hate crimes.