Toronto's black and Jewish communities continued to be the top victims of the largest percentage of religious and race hate in 2007. The good news, according to a police report to the Toronto Police Services Board yesterday, is the 130 reported hate-and-bias crimes is down 20% last year, compared to 160 cases in 2006.
"This is the lowest year we have ever recorded since 1993" when the police Hate Crime Unit was established, Staff-Insp. Steve Izzett told the board.
The 15-year annual average is 206 cases, with 338 investigated in 2001 representing the worst, Izzett, commander of the police Intelligence Unit, said.
He said the largest percentage of 2007 cases involved mischief such as graffiti, including anti-Semitic symbols.
Blacks continued to be the most targeted group, followed by the Jewish community, gay males, Muslims, Pakistanis and Chinese.
The 31 cases of assault ranked second, and threatenings came third. With 44 cases, racial incidents accounted for 34%, followed by 38 cases of religious bias, or 29% of the incidents. Sexual threats or assaults involving gays, lesbians or transgendered people, accounted for 17%