Last month, a British journalist revealed that he had been visited by the police at his home in Essex over what he had written about former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, on X last year.
On November 12, Allison Pearson, a columnist for the right-wing newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, said she was being investigated for a “non-criminal incident” (NCHI). The police later denied this, saying they were being investigated for racial hatred, not NCHI, but in any case, the investigation was dropped a few days later.
Whether the police investigated Pearson for a non-criminal hate crime or, as a criminal case, a dispute over his experience. has brought the discussion of the controversial practice of drawing NCHIs to the fore.
This week, Nick Herbert, chairman of the College of Policing, said the government should consider scrapping NCHIs altogether, and said NCHI recording had become a “disincentive for the police”.
While some want the practice to be abolished, others say that the recording of CHIIs is necessary.
But what exactly is “innocent” hate and what do people in the United Kingdom think of the police who investigate it?
What are non-criminal acts of hate?
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, which is in force in England and Wales, defines NCHI as an act that is “motivated by deliberate hatred or prejudice against people of a particular character”.
These characteristics can be race, religion, sex, disability or transgender.
The West Yorkshire Police website has a list of examples of NCHI which include verbal or online bullying, bullying at school or work, obscene leaflets or pictures and littering outside homes or through letterboxes.
Police in England and Wales are required by law to write NCHIs reports from June 2023.
Scotland enacted its own hate crime law – the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act – in April 2024. It also states that: “It is an operational matter for Police Scotland to know how reports of hate crime or hate crime are investigated. It is in no way related to the Hate Crime Act.”
Why do people say drawing COUNTRIES is difficult?
Some say NCHI limits free speech, wastes police time and is targeting people who shouldn't be on the police radar.
Last month, The Times revealed its own investigation, which found that a nine-year-old boy who called a classmate “retarded” and two high school students who said another student “smelled like fish” were cut by police for doing so. . COUNTRY.
Other children were also reported — and their actions recorded by police — The Times investigation found. The Times reported that it had found “great confusion” among police officers about what should be recorded.
Complaints by NCHI have increased recently. Based on data from 45 of the UK's 48 police forces, 13,200 complaints were made last year. Based on the number of these complaints, the think tank UK Policy Exchange said in a report published on November 25, that more than 60,000 police hours per year were spent on NCHIs.
Nick Herbert, who is the chairman of the College of Policing, told the press this week: “I think it has been an obstacle for the police to do what we want the police to do, to ensure that they avoid harm, and know where it is.” the risk of injury, ensuring that it can be avoided … the group has become controversial and confusing. “
Why do some people say it is important?
Some argue that surveillance of CHIIs is necessary because they may indicate hateful behavior that may escalate into criminal behavior.
Danny Stone, head of the UK-based Antisemitism Policy Trust, wrote in the Conservative Home newspaper that “reports of antisemitism have had a significant impact on the police, and communities, in identifying risks, extremism, and failing to integrate or engage in community efforts”.
Stone also cited the 2007 example of a woman in Leicestershire who killed herself and her severely disabled daughter after ten years of abuse by local youths. It emerged that the woman, Fiona Pilkington, spoke to the police 33 times about the bad behaviour. Although the police visited the family seven times, nothing was done.
Who has been investigated for non-criminal hate incidents?
In 2019, ex-police officer Harry Miller was investigated by Humberside Police for “disturbing comments” on his account X. He posted 31 posts between November 2018 and January 2019 expressing what were later described as “gender-biased views”, which are legally protected from 2021 Forstater ruling that they should be “philosophical beliefs” for legal purposes.
In another article, she wrote: “Transwomen are women. Does anyone know where this new biological group was first given and adopted?”. Another story said: “I was given Mammal at Birth, but my thoughts are Fish. Don't miss me.”
Miller took the police to court over the investigation, arguing that his right to free speech could be restricted. The court agreed with Miller, saying that his opinion was within the protection of free speech.
The judge ruled that there was no evidence that Miller's posts were “designed” to cause serious offense”, and that his posts were “not directed at transgender people,” rather, they were directed at his X followers.
On November 10 this year, Daily Telegraph reporter Allison Pearson, 64, said in her newspaper that the police “appeared” at her home in Essex and told her that she was being charged with NCHI for what she did on X one year. already. He said he was not allowed to tell him what X's post was, or who complained about it.
Pearson denied that he had written “hateful”.
The Guardian reported that Pearson X's post was a picture of two people of color holding a flag Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)the party of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan who was arrested. Pearson captioned the photo: “Look at this place smiling with Jew haters,” possibly mistaking the PTI flag for a Hamas flag. He later deleted the post.
Essex Police, who later told The Guardian that Mr Pearson was being investigated for inciting racial hatred on behalf of NCHI and released police footage to prove it, dropped the investigation on November 21.
Following the incident with Allison Pearson, right-wing news anchor and activist Darren Grimes said he was investigated by NCHI in 2020.
Like Allison, I have a hateful 'innocent' written against my name. They need to stop drawing Orwellian anti-personnel posts. I don't understand how it seems like it's forced to investigate a boring case like this. Britain is not a free country. https://t.co/dRjRxF1Pi9
– Darren Grimes (@darrengrimes_) November 13, 2024
Who else is campaigning against COUNTRIES?
Other activists, as well as free speech advocates, are campaigning against the filming of NCHIs, including the non-British Free Speech Union.
In a statement, the Free Speech Union said the monitoring of NCHIs was “the latest and most disturbing restriction on our freedom of speech”.
Policy Exchange published a report on November 25, written by its head of crime and justice, David Spencer. Monitoring NCHIs “is a major distraction from public policing priorities”, Spencer, a former chief inspector of the Metropolitan Police, wrote.
Spencer added that the recording of CHIIs is a distraction to the police.
Former Secretary of State Suella Braverman The Conservative Party has also been criticizing the COUNTRIES. In 2023, when the Conservative Party was still in power, Mr. Braverman published new guidelines that ordered that events should be considered national if they are “involved in deliberate hatred”.
Last month, The Telegraph reported that Labor Home Secretary Yvette Cooper was considering changing the bill to deal with anti-Semitism and Islamophobia that could turn violent.