Non-crime hate incidents should be scrapped, police leaders say

Non-crime hate incidents should be scrapped and replaced with a "common sense" system, police leaders are set to recommend.

The scheme would mean only the most serious incidents are recorded as anti-social behaviour.

The recommendation is part of a review by leaders at the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) and College of Policing, which is set to be published next month and given to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

Non-crime hate incidents are perceived to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards certain characteristics, such as race or gender, but do not meet the threshold of a criminal offence.

Rather than logging hate incidents on a crime database, the plan would treat them as intelligence reports, with officers given a "common sense" checklist.

The checklist is intended to ensure officers target only serious anti-social behaviour, such as antisemitism, Lord Herbert of South Downs, chairman of the College of Policing, told The Telegraph.

He said that non-crime hate incidents would "go as a concept", with the system, which dates back to 1999, no longer "fit for purpose".

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The NPCC review was announced after the Metropolitan Police said in October that it would no longer investigate non-crime hate incidents.

Britain's biggest police force made the announcement after revealing Father Ted creator Graham Linehan will face no further action after he was arrested at Heathrow Airport on suspicion of inciting violence over three posts he made on X about transgender issues.

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