Rethinking Policing: The Controversial Proposal to Abolish Non-Crime Hate Incidents

Police leaders are preparing to recommend the elimination of non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs) as part of a significant review. The College of Policing chair, Lord Herbert, emphasized that a more focused approach is necessary to address serious incidents, particularly in today’s social media environment. NCHIs are defined as actions perceived to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on attributes like race or gender, but do not meet the threshold for criminal offenses.

Current directives from the Home Office dictate that these incidents are recorded to prevent escalation into more dangerous situations, yet critics argue that they waste police resources and threaten freedom of speech. Notably, even though NCHIs are not crimes, they remain on police records, which can surface during background checks.

Originally introduced in 2005 after the murder of Stephen Lawrence, police guidelines regarding NCHIs have come under scrutiny due to the rise of social media, compelling law enforcement to monitor what Lord Herbert describes as ”mere disputes” online. He articulated concerns that public perception suggests a misallocation of police resources, saying, ”It was quite clear that the whole regime needed looking at.”

Following inquiries about the efficiency and appropriateness of police intervention in these non-criminal matters, the Home Secretary will ultimately determine whether to implement these new recommendations. The National Police Chiefs’ Council has echoed sentiments that policing should not involve mediating online cultural debates, focusing instead on maintaining public safety.

The recent statistics reveal that over 133,000 NCHIs have been recorded by 43 police forces in England and Wales since 2014. Reaffirming this new direction, the Metropolitan Police has ceased investigations into NCHIs, redirecting efforts towards incidents that qualify for criminal probes. Calls for this change have been supported politically, with figures like Kemi Badenoch, Conservative leader, arguing that NCHIs detract from essential policing duties, insisting that they should be largely abolished to refocus on justice rather than ideological policing.