"Non-crime hate incidents are those perceived to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards people because of certain characteristics, such as race or religion, but do not meet the threshold of a criminal offence. Last year, police chiefs declared the category not fit for purpose after a series of high-profile cases in which outspoken individuals were arrested because of social media posts about race and gender, prompting concerns about freedom of speech."
"Stopping the recording of non-crime hate incidents would be a disaster for disabled people, said Prof Stephen Macdonald, professor of criminology and disability studies at Durham University. Hate crime is the tip of the iceberg, but repeat hate incidents are the hidden day-to-day reality for many disabled people, he said. Prof Macdonald has extensively researched disability hate crime, whether that's neighbours banging on doors, blocking access routes, engaging in aggressive behaviour, or even throwing dog faeces at a person's property."
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood confirmed that the category of non-crime hate incidents will be scrapped in its current form in England and Wales. Non-crime hate incidents are perceived to be motivated by hostility or prejudice but do not meet the threshold of a criminal offence. Police chiefs previously found the category not fit for purpose after high-profile arrests over social media posts raised freedom of speech concerns. Mahmood urged officers to focus on core duties and avoid policing lawful tweets. Disabled campaigners warn that stopping recording of lower-level incidents would remove vital intelligence and allow patterns that precede more serious hate crimes to be missed.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]