Police chief says Labour should consider scrapping non-crime hate incidents as it ‘distracts’ officers
16 December 2024, 16:15
A senior policing figure has called for the recording of non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) to be ‘potentially’ scrapped, warning it has become a ‘distraction’ for officers.
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Lord Nick Herbert, the chairman of the College of Policing, said the Government should ‘potentially’ consider scrapping the category altogether.
The government defines an NCHI as an incident which is perceived to be wholly or partly motivated “by hostility or prejudice towards persons with a particular characteristic."
Lord Herbert is the most senior figure to call for reforms to the way NCHIs are recorded, saying it has become an ‘impediment to the police’.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has called for police only to record NHCIs where there is a clear risk to community safety and wellbeing, with a specific focus on Islamophobia and antisemitism.
The College of Policing have joined the National Police Chiefs' Council in writing to the home secretary, with the backing of HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services, calling for changes to the category.
"We need to prevent harm, we need to ensure that minorities are protected and be alive to things like antisemitism, but on the other hand we must ensure hate incidents that police are not drawn into the trivial," the former Conservative MP told The Times.
"We want to apply a common sense approach, where the police officer would receive a complaint and they would be able to say 'we're sorry, we can understand you find that offensive but it's not a matter for us'.”
Under government guidance, NCHIs are only supposed to be recorded by police when they are “clearly motivated by intentional hostility” with a real chance of escalation.
But more than 13,200 hate incidents have been recorded over the last year, according to statistics from 45 of Britain’s 48 police forces, indicating a rise in complaints.
Mr Herbert said: "I think it has become an impediment to the police doing what we want the police to do, which is ensure that they are preventing harm, identifying where there is risk of harm, ensuring that it can be prevented... the category itself has become controversial and a distraction."
His comments come after a think tank urged the Government to "abolish" the reporting category altogether, citing police resourcing and free speech concerns.
Policy Exchange published the paper by its head of crime and justice David Spencer, a former detective chief inspector in the Metropolitan Police, arguing that the policing of non-crime hate incidents is having a "chilling effect" on freedom of expression in society.
The paper claimed NCHIs distract police officers from fighting crime and risk causing prospective employees to lose job opportunities.
Just last month, Essex Police dropped an investigation into Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson for alleged incitement of racial hatred over a post on social media platform X that has since been deleted.
An independent review will be launched into the force's handling of the case.
