Met police arrest six in raids for homophobic hate crime
A police crackdown on hate crime across London has resulted in 221 arrests, with six of these being for homophobic and transphobic crime.
The midnight raids were carried out on Tuesday, following International Day Against Homophobia.
The 221 people were arrested for a range of offences including serious assault and harassment.
Det Supt Darren Williams said that the six people were arrested for crimes where there was a clear homophobic or transphobic element.
He said he believed under-reporting of homophobic offences was to blame for the small proportion of suspects arrested, compared to 187 for domestic violence offences.
He said: “It is so under-reported, the number of arrests is lower than we perceive it should be.
“Both myself and the Met understand there is under-reporting.”
Det Supt Williams urged people who felt they could not contact police to use third-party reporting systems, saying: “The key message is, if you can’t tell police, at least tell someone.”
