Fewer hate crimes reported in Quebec City last year, according to police data

There were three times fewer hate crimes or hate incidents reported to Quebec City police in 2018 compared with the year before, according to data from the Quebec City police service.

A totalof 85 hate crimes or incidents were reported to the police in 2017, the year of the Quebec City mosque shooting that killed six men on January 29.

For 2018, the number dropped to 27 crimes or incidents, 18 of which targeted Muslim people.

According to the data, Muslims remain the most targeted group, accounting for 66 per cent of cases reported.

Quebec City police officerDavid Gaudreautold Radio-Canada that there was a major uptick in the number of hate incidents being reported in the months following the mosque shooting, partly due to the public's awareness being heightened during that time.

He said that police have also tried to take more preventative action and investigate any threat before it leads to a crime.

Gaudreau also suggested that media coverage of several court cases involving people whomadethreats online might act as a deterrent.

The head of research at the Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence in Montreal,Benjamin Ducol, offered a word of caution against reading too much into this apparent decline.

He emphasized that these numbers only factor incidents or crimes that are reported to police, and that people aren't always willing to come forward.