Rise in reported racist attacks

Officers say they are working hard with ethnic communities

The number of racist crimes reported across Devon and Cornwall has gone up by almost 20% since 2003.

However, the figures, from Devon and Cornwall Police have fallen slightly in the past three years.

The Devon Racial Equality Council said the figures showed people were less scared to report racist incidents.

Spokesman Richard Anderson said he believed the rise in figures was actually due to increased reporting, rather than a rise is crimes.

He said the council had been working closely with the police to encourage victims to come forward.

"Compared to three years ago, I think local people are more aware of race equality issues," he said.

RACIST INCIDENTS April 2003-March 2004: 703 April 2004-March 2005: 794 April 2005-March 2006: 935 April 2006-March 2007: 899 April 2007-March 2008: 835

Insp John Jackson from the police's diversity unit said the force viewed the figures as an indicator of trust and confidence and more people were coming forward to report racist attacks.

"We've worked quite hard with the community to build that trust and confidence," he told BBC News.

"We have diversity officers across the force and one of their remits is to work with communities to make sure we get the message out that instances and crimes of this type are totally unacceptable."

He added that racist crimes were dealt with "robustly" by the force.