CID/0008-11
Procedural Guidance
/Hate Crime and Incidents (including Racial and Religious motivated crime and incidents)
Security Marking: Not Protectively Marked
Please click on the hyperlink for related Policy Statements
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Definitions of hate crime and incidents
3. Examples of hate incidents and crimes
4. Repeat/secondary victimisation
5. Racially and religiously aggravated offences and sentencing
6. Disablist and Sexual Orientation Hostility and Sentencing
7. Risks
8. Awareness
9. Advice for staff dealing with hate incidents
10. Investigating Hate Incidents – initial report and attendance
11. Supervision of hate crime/incidents
12. Recording and allocation of hate crime investigations
13. Referral to partner agencies
14. Taking statements in hate crime cases
15. Point of contact and liaison
16. Arrest of suspects
17. Issues related to harassment
18. Gravity factors and red tag
19. Withdrawn hate crime allegations
20. Conclusion of investigation
21. Use of Penalty Notices, Restorative Justice and Conditional Cautions
22. Communication issues
23. Victims
24. Community and minority groups
25. Partnerships
26. Hate Crime Officers
27. Intelligence and tasking
28. Internal hate incidents and hate crime
APPENDICES
Appendix A Hate Crime Aide Memoir
Appendix B Examples of hate crimes and hate incidents crime recording
1. Introduction
1.1 For a basic awareness of hate crime and incidents please access the Protecting Vulnerable People Hate Crime E-learning module through the NCALT application on the Force Intranet (this takes approximately 30 minutes to complete). A Hate Crime Aide Memoir is provided at Appendix A.
1.2 ACPO is currently in the process of revising the national Hate Crime Manual.
Effect of Hate Incidents and Crime
1.3 “Hate crime is the targeting of individual’s, groups and communities because of who they are. It targets people because of elements which go to the core of their identities- their race, their religious beliefs, their disability, their sexual orientation or that they are transgender” (Hate Crime – The Cross Government Action Plan, 2009).
1.4 Staff must understand the potential for Hate Crime to become a critical incident. Staff must recognise the failings of the Police service following the murder of Stephen Lawrence and take all steps to ensure such failings are not repeated within Avon and Somerset (Stephen Lawrence Recommendations).
1.5 Victims of hate crimes and incidents feel the added trauma of knowing that the perpetrator’s motivation is an impersonal, group hatred, relating to some feature that they share with others. This factor may be greatest where the hatred is directed against a person’s visible features such as skin colour or features relating to core personal values which may be non-visible, such as religion or by nature of their sexual orientation, disability, gender description, age and/or status.
1.6 Although some Hate Crime can appear to be relatively minor crimes which, for example, would normally be deemed as Anti Social Behaviour (ASB), the hate element alters the dynamics and increases the level of seriousness. Hate Crime has the ability to turn a seemingly minor incident into a very intimate and hurtful attack that can undermine the victim's quality of life. Hate Crimes will therefore not be perceived as ASB by Avon and Somerset Constabulary.
1.7 In any community, the impact of Hate Crime / incidents on quality of life extends to the victim’s family, broader circle of friends, acquaintances and the whole community. For every victim there are likely to be numerous other people affected by the incident.
1.8 Common features of Hate Crime and incidents include under-reporting and repeat victimisation. Staff dealing with hate crimes/incidents should be mindful to link relevant incidents and to deploy all relevant strategies including intelligence, problem solving in partnership, investigation and future prevention.
2. Hate Incidents and Crime – definitions
2.1 A Hate Incident is defined as: ‘Any incident, which may or may not constitute a criminal offence, which is perceived by the victim or any other person, as being motivated by prejudice or hate’. (ACPO Hate Crime Manual 2005)
2.2 A Hate Crime is defined as: ‘Any Hate Incident, which constitutes a criminal offence, perceived by the victim or any other person, as being motivated by prejudice or hate’.
2.3 All Hate Crimes are therefore Hate Incidents, but some Hate Incidents may not constitute a criminal offence.
2.4 A Critical Incident is defined by ACPO as: ‘Any incident where the effectiveness of the police response is likely to have significant impact on the confidence of the victim, their family and/or their community’. (ACPO Hate Crime Manual 2005) In this Force all Hate Incidents will be treated as potential critical incidents. The Critical Incident Management Procedural Guidance should be referred to as necessary.
2.5 Nationally, it has been agreed there are five minimum "strands" of monitored hate crime:
Race means any racial group or ethnic background, including countries within the UK and Gypsy or Irish Travellers. It would automatically include a person who is targeted because they are an asylum seeker or refugee given that this is intrinsically linked to their ethnicity and origins.
Religion means any religious group whether considered to be mainstream or not and it specifically includes someone targeted because they have no faith.
Sexual orientation means a person may be sexually attracted to a person of the opposite set (heterosexual), the same-sex (homosexual or lesbian) or both (bisexual). Sexual orientation does not include any sexual practice, whether legal or not. An attack on a person convicted of child sex offences may be a crime but would not be a hate crime unless some other hostility is present.
Disability means any disability, including physical disability, learning disability and mental ill-health.
Transgender is an umbrella term, meaning any person who is transsexual, transgender or transvestite and includes those who hold a Gender Recognition Certificate under the Gender Recognition Act 2004.
Note: A Sectarian incident would be one where the motive is based on hatred or prejudice towards a victim of a different sect or denomination (or similar division) of the same religion as the offender. Examples may include incidents between Catholic and Protestant Christians, or between Shi’a and Sunni Muslims.
3. Examples of hate incidents and hate crimes
Please see Appendix B.
4. Repeat Victimisation and Secondary Victimisation
4.1 ‘Where a person or immediate family member suffers more than one Hate Incident in a 12 month period following the date when the first crime was reported’ (ACPO Hate Crime Manual).
4.2 ‘If, as victims of Hate Crimes or incidents, individuals experience indifference or rejection from the police, this in effect victimises them a second time. Secondary victimisation takes place whether or not the police are indifferent or reject the victim’s allegations if that is how the victim feels about the interaction. The onus falls entirely on the police to manage the interaction to ensure that the victim has no residual feelings of secondary victimisation.’ (ACPO Hate Crime Manual)
5. Racially or Religiously Aggravated Offences and sentencing
5.1 The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 introduced racially aggravated offences. The Anti - Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 expanded the range of these offences to cover religiously aggravated offences. Section 28 Crime and Disorder Act 1998, as amended by the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, defines the terms ‘racially aggravated’ and ‘religiously aggravated’.
An offence is racially aggravated if:
a) at the time of committing the offence, immediately before or after doing so, the offender demonstrates towards the victim hostility based on the victim’s membership (or presumed membership) of a racial group; or,
b) the offence is motivated (wholly or partly) by hostility towards members of a racial group based on their membership of that group.
A ‘racial group’ means a group of persons defined by reference to race, colour, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic or national origins.
An offence is religiously aggravated if:
a) at the time of committing the offence, or immediately before or after doing so, the offender demonstrates towards the victim hostility based on the victim’s membership (or presumed membership) of a religious group; or,
b) the offence is motivated (wholly or partly) by hostility towards members of a religious group based on their membership of that group.
A ‘religious group’ means a group of persons defined by reference to religious belief or lack of religious belief.
5.2 The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 creates racially or religiously aggravated provisions of the following offences:
a) assaults (Section 29);
b) criminal damage (Section 30);
c) public order offence (Section 31);
d) harassment (Section 32).
5.3 Section 153 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing Act) Act 2000, as amended, requires the courts to consider racial or religious hostility as an aggravating factor when deciding on the sentence for any offence which is not a specific racially or religiously aggravated offence under the 1998 Act.
5.4 This applies when a court is considering the seriousness of an offence other than one under Sections 29-32 of the 1998 Act. If the offence was racially or religiously aggravated, the court shall treat that fact as an aggravating factor, i.e. a factor that increases the seriousness of the offence, and shall state this in open court.
5.5 Racial or religious aggravation, although not an ingredient of the offence, can be taken into consideration by the court in sentencing for any offence.
6. Disablist and Sexual Orientation Hostility and Sentencing
6.1 Section 146 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 requires the courts to consider disability or sexual orientation hostility as an aggravating factor when deciding on the sentence for any offence. This section applies where the court is considering the seriousness of an offence committed in any of the circumstances outlined below.
a) that, at the time of committing the offence, or immediately before or after doing so, the offender demonstrated towards the victim of the offence hostility based on:
· the sexual orientation (or presumed sexual orientation) of the victim, or,
· a disability (or presumed disability) of the victim, or,
b) that the offence is motivated (wholly or partly):
· by hostility towards persons who are of a particular sexual orientation, or
· by hostility towards persons who have a disability or a presumed disability.
6.2 The court must treat the fact that the offence was committed in any of those circumstances as an aggravating factor, and must state that finding in open court.
6.3 It is immaterial for the purposes of paragraph (a) or (b) whether or not the offender’s hostility is also based, to any extent, on any other factor not mentioned in that paragraph.
6.4 In this section ‘disability’ means any physical or mental impairment.
7. Risks
7.1 Police Officers and staff must be mindful that incidents that may appear minor in nature might have a devastating effect on the victim, their quality of life and that of the community. If left unchecked and not properly recorded and investigated, this can lead to whole communities living in fear. Minor incidents of this nature have the potential to escalate and therefore a proactive and robust response is required to disrupt any emerging patterns.
7.2 People who are victims of Hate Incidents or who wish to report an incident on behalf of someone else are entitled the highest standards of professional service from Police service. Any member of the Force, whose behaviour falls short of this standard, is likely to seriously affect trust and confidence in the organisation in the eyes of that person or the minority group to which they belong.
8 Awareness
8.1 Individuals, communities and minority groups liable to be the subject of Hate Incidents should be made aware of the need to report incidents immediately in order that effective police action can be taken. Such awareness can be developed by all members of the Constabulary who come into contact with minority groups and members of various faiths, particularly by attendance and participation in multi-agency and other meetings such as Partners and Communities Together (PACTs).
8.2 All members of the Constabulary should be alert to the danger of activities and campaigns motivated by prejudice, for example the circulation of inflammatory literature, especially in schools, youth clubs and places of public entertainment, which is intended or likely to stir up hatred. Where such incidents occur, evidence should be obtained and appropriate robust immediate action taken.
8.3 Staff should also be alert to the existence of “non-specific” incidents e.g. racist graffiti and should ensure such incidents are subject of record keeping and intelligence reports.
9. Advice for staff dealing with hate incidents
9.1 If there is any doubt as to whether a particular scenario constitutes a Hate Crime or advice in dealing with such matters is needed it can be obtained from the District Hate Crime Officer/Unit. Alternatively advice can be sought from the Public Protection Unit for the area where the incident occurred or Headquarters Public Protection Unit. If in doubt, treat as a Hate Incident.
9.2 General advice in relation to dealing with disabled people can be obtained by visiting the website for the Equality and Human Rights Commission or by calling them on 0808 800 0082. Identification of potential communication barriers e.g. mental health issues are key to ensuring our service is tailored to individual need.
9.3 The nominated force ‘Hate Crime’ champion is the PPU Supt. In addition, each district will have a local ‘Hate Crime’ champion who will ensure response, training and the investigation of hate crime is conducted in accordance with this guidance. This will normally be the DCI or PPU DI. Where BCU Policy goes outside of this guidance a Policy decision should be recorded and signed by the BCU DCI or D/I PPU.
10. Investigating Hate Incidents - Initial Report and Attendance
10.1 All Hate Incidents will be immediately attended by a police officer unless the victim expressly requests they do not do so, or the report is of historic nature, or the report is received via online reporting. All Hate Incidents (with the exception of those received via online reporting) will be attended within a maximum 12 hours of report subject to availability of victim/witness, or where there are other reasonable mitigating circumstances. The duty Inspector will be advised of any delay in attendance of a Hate Incident and will record any reasons for the delay on the STORM log or incident report. Incidents reported online will be allocated to an appropriate officer on district, unless Force Service Centre believe a more urgent response is required. Under no circumstances will a Hate Incident be referred to G99 logs.