Police Leaders Propose Scrapping Non-Crime Hate Incidents to Focus on Serious Cases
Police leaders plan to scrap non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) and limit recording to the most serious cases, in a review due to be published next month.
NCHIs are acts motivated by hostility toward certain characteristics that do not meet the threshold for a criminal offence but still remain on police records.
The recommendations come from the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC), with the Home Secretary set to decide whether to adopt them.
Guidance on recording NCHIs was first published in 2005 following the Stephen Lawrence inquiry. The rise of social media has been cited as a significant factor prompting this current review.
Lord Herbert notes that the explosion of social media has led the police to monitor not only real-world incidents but also online disputes.
The Home Office has stated that a consistent and common-sense approach is needed to protect free speech but will not pre-empt the findings of the review.
Rachel Swann, NPCC vice-chair, emphasized that policing should not act as referees of online debates, highlighting the importance of balancing free speech with focusing on real-world risks.
In October, the Metropolitan Police declared it would stop investigating NCHIs to concentrate on offences that meet the criminal threshold, and the watchdog urged police forces to cease recording them. Since 2014, more than 133,000 NCHIs have been recorded by 43 forces.
In April, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called for NCHIs to be scrapped in most cases.
