Breaking News: The Government is to issue guidance preventing police from recording incidents deemed ‘hateful’ but which do not constitute a crime.
The Government will today issue new guidance to police forces in England and Wales, curtailing the recording of so-called ‘non-crime hate incidents’. The move, reported by The Daily Telegraph, follows concerns that officers were logging instances of misgendering or perceived offensive language as hate incidents, even without evidence of a criminal offence. The guidance is expected to be published by Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary.
The new rules, detailed in The Sun, are intended to prevent the chilling effect on free speech generated by such recordings. Previous guidance, from the College of Policing, encouraged forces to record all reported hate incidents, regardless of whether they met the threshold for criminal prosecution. This led to cases, reported by the Daily Mail, of individuals being flagged as potential perpetrators for expressing opinions deemed offensive. Fox News highlights conservative criticism that these policies were indicative of ‘woke policing’.
Responding to the changes, a Home Office source, quoted in The Telegraph, stated the guidance would “restore common sense to policing”. Concerns have been repeatedly raised by Conservative MPs that the existing rules were “disproportionate and intrusive”. The Jerusalem Post notes this move aligns with broader international efforts to address concerns over the suppression of free expression under the guise of combating hate speech.
The guidance is expected to explicitly state that police should not record incidents unless they amount to a crime. Forces will be directed to focus on investigating serious offences and to avoid the creation of records based solely on subjective perceptions of offence.
The new rules will be implemented immediately, with a formal review of the College of Policing’s guidance planned for later this year.
Sources: The Sun, The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, Fox News, The Jerusalem Post.
