All police forces in England and Wales should stop recording non-crime hate incidents, police chiefs have recommended.
The College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council have written to policing minister Sarah Jones recommending that non-crime hate incidents in their current form be removed ahead of a full review being published in December.
Their recommendation comes after Britain’s biggest force, the Metropolitan Police, announced on Monday it is no longer investigating non-crime hate incidents.
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The Met 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.
Forces should still record non-crime hate incidents but only where there is a clear risk of harm, the letter to Ms Jones says.
Earlier on Tuesday, Downing Street said officers should focus on “tackling real crime and policing the streets”.
“The home secretary has asked that this review be completed at pace, working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing,” a spokesman said.
“We look forward to receiving its findings as soon as possible, so that the other forces get the clarity they need to keep our streets safe.”
He said the government will “always work with police chiefs to make sure criminal law and guidance reflects the common-sense approach we all want to see in policing”.
After Linehan’s September arrest, Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said officers were in “an impossible position” when dealing with statements made online.
On Monday, a Met spokesperson said the commissioner had been “clear he doesn’t believe officers should be policing toxic culture war debates, with current laws and rules on inciting violence online leaving them in an impossible position”.
The force said the decision to no longer investigate non-crime hate incidents would now “provide clearer direction for officers, reduce ambiguity and enable them to focus on matters that meet the threshold for criminal investigations”.
Justice minister Sarah Sackman said it was “welcome news” the Met will now be focusing on crimes such as phone snatching, mugging, antisocial behaviour and violent crime.
Asked if other forces should follow the Met’s decision, she said: “I think that other forces need to make the decisions that are right for their communities.
“But I’m sure that communities up and down the country would want that renewed focus on violent crime, on antisocial behaviour, and on actual hate crime.”
The Met said it will still record non-crime hate incidents to use as “valuable pieces of intelligence to establish potential patterns of behaviour or criminality”.
