Courtesy of the BBC
Oh FFS!
Religious hate crimes, mostly against Muslims, have risen six-fold in London since the bombings, new figures show.
There were 269 religious hate crimes in the three weeks after 7 July, compared with 40 in the same period of 2004.
Most were verbal abuse and minor assaults, but damage to mosques and property with a great "emotional impact" also occurred, police said.
Met Police Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur said he had never seen so much anger among young Muslims.
It [religious hate crimes] can lead to these communities completely retreating
Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur
Communities were particularly frustrated by the increased use of stop-and-search and the new "shoot-to-kill to protect" policy of dealing with suicide bombers, he said.
"There is no doubt that incidents impacting on the Muslim community have increased."
Mr Ghaffur revealed that in the first three days after suicide bombers killed 52 people and injured 700 more, there were 68 "faith hate" crimes in London alone.
Racial profiling
The alarming figures emerged as Home Office minister Hazel Blears held the first in a series of meetings on Tuesday with Muslim community groups across the country.
Those meetings come amid increasing concerns that young Muslims are being targeted by police in stop-and-search operations.
Ahead of the meeting, Ms Blears pledged that Muslims would not be discriminated against by police trying to prevent potential terror attacks.
She insisted that "counter-terrorism powers are not targeting any community in particular but are targeting terrorists".
She also said she opposed police use of racial profiling, adding that all stops and searches should be based on good intelligence, not just the colour of someone's skin.
Mr Ghaffur also revealed that the specialist unit dealing with serious and organised crime had lost 10% of its staff to the bombings inquiry.
There were 269 religious hate crimes in the three weeks after 7 July, compared with 40 in the same period of 2004.
Most were verbal abuse and minor assaults, but damage to mosques and property with a great "emotional impact" also occurred, police said.
Met Police Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur said he had never seen so much anger among young Muslims.
It [religious hate crimes] can lead to these communities completely retreating
Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffur
Communities were particularly frustrated by the increased use of stop-and-search and the new "shoot-to-kill to protect" policy of dealing with suicide bombers, he said.
"There is no doubt that incidents impacting on the Muslim community have increased."
And he warned: "It can lead to these communities completely retreating and not engaging at a time when we want their engagement and support."
Racial profiling
The alarming figures emerged as Home Office minister Hazel Blears held the first in a series of meetings on Tuesday with Muslim community groups across the country.
Those meetings come amid increasing concerns that young Muslims are being targeted by police in stop-and-search operations.
Ahead of the meeting, Ms Blears pledged that Muslims would not be discriminated against by police trying to prevent potential terror attacks.
She insisted that "counter-terrorism powers are not targeting any community in particular but are targeting terrorists".
She also said she opposed police use of racial profiling, adding that all stops and searches should be based on good intelligence, not just the colour of someone's skin.
Mr Ghaffur also revealed that the specialist unit dealing with serious and organised crime had lost 10% of its staff to the bombings inquiry.
Communities were particularly frustrated by the increased use of stop-and-search and the new "shoot-to-kill to protect" policy of dealing with suicide bombers, he said.
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