"This is the Bristol we live in today": Police report thousands of racist crimes in one year
A total of 3,987 offences were reported by Avon and Somerset Police
New figures from the Home Office reveal nearly four thousand racially motivated hate crimes were recorded by Avon and Somerset Police in one year (2024-2025).
A total of 3,987 offences were reported by the force - up by 31% on the year before.
"Really, truly, unfortunately, I'm not surprised," said Julz Davis, award-winning civil rights campaigner from Bristol.
"Am I disappointed? Yes. Surprised? No."
"I’ve had to put up with racist abuse in a city that I live in only yesterday. It’s happening. It’s an alive thing.
"I was walking through the city centre and this guy is walking across the road - he’s drunk.
"I don’t want to see my fellow person getting run over so I reach out to him to pull him back from the road and he tells me to get my (racist slur) hands off of him.
"That’s the world we’re living in at the moment.
"We seem to be prepared to go backwards rather than forwards - we’re supposed to be a smart progressive human race that should do better."
Across the country, police-recorded hate crime has risen for the first time in three years - including increases in both racially and religiously motivated offences.
Hate crimes targeted at Muslims were up by almost a fifth, with the Home Office noting a spike in these offences after the Southport murders last summer and the riots which followed.
"Stand Against Racism and Inequality do epic work. They’ve been around for decades now and it’s like - damn! You’re still needed?" Julz Davis added.
"We want to make you redundant. That’s the world we should be working towards - a world where organisations such as that are made redundant."