ROBERT BROWN CALLS FOR NATIONAL EFFORT TO STAMP OUT RACISM

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 30th Mar 2009

Glasgow Liberal Democrat MSP Robert Brown has today called for a national effort to stamp out racism. The call comes after official figures showing the number of racist incidents in Scotland has increased by 16 per cent since 2004.

Racist incidents in Glasgow last year increased to a rate of almost three a day figures also show.

Robert Brown said:

"A recent crime survey found that only 38 per cent of racist incidents are reported to the police. So, although the overall number of racist incidents recorded by the police has dropped, this year the scale of the problem is almost certainly much greater than suggested by official figures.

"Police forces and community leaders need to work together to encourage more people to report racism. Just over half of reported racist incidents are taken any further.

"Improving the "clear up" rates for racial crime would be one way to boost traditionally low reporting rates.

"We need to stamp out racism. Too many people in Scotland are still being victimised for the colour of their skin."

Ends.

Notes to Editors:

The following excerpts from the report may be useful:

Over the period 2004/05 to 2007/08, racist incidents in Scotland have increased by 16 per cent.

These statistics do not record every occurrence of racist incidents in Scotland. Not all incidents are reported to the police. The 2006 Scottish Crime and Victimisation Survey1 estimated that approximately 38 per cent of total crimes came to the attention of the police.

The definition of "cleared up" is noted below. This definition came into force with effect from 1 April 1996. A crime or offence is regarded as cleared up where there exists a sufficiency of evidence under Scots law, to justify consideration of criminal proceedings notwithstanding that a report is not submitted to the Procurator Fiscal because either (i) by standing agreement with the Procurator Fiscal, the police warn the accused due to the minor nature of the offence, or (ii) reporting is inappropriate due to the non-age of the accused, death of the accused or other similar circumstances.