Hate Crime

Question 1

In terms of legislation, hate crimes fall into what two main categories?

Answer 1

1. The stirring up offences under The Public Order Act 1986 which addresses behaviour that ‘stirs up’ or incites hatred against a group of people on certain grounds.
2. ‘Aggravated’ Hate crimes - This is where a crime (such as assault, criminal damage, public order offenses and harassment) can be charged as the ‘aggravated’ version under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. These carry a heavier sentence on conviction.

Question 2

Hate crime is defined as…

Answer 2

‘Any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person’s race or perceived race; religion or perceived religion; sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation; disability or perceived disability and any crime motivated by hostility or prejudice against a person who is transgender or perceived to be transgender.’

Question 3

What is a key consideration for the police when identifying a potential hate crime?

Answer 3

The victim’s perception- in most forces the policy is to record a crime as a ‘hate crime’ if the victim perceives it as such.

Question 4

What was created following the enquiry into the death of the black London teenager, Stephen Lawrence?

Answer 4

The Criminal Justice Act 2003

Question 5

In all cases of hate crimes, the police are expected to do what?

Answer 5

Identify and record crimes as such, to throughly investigate hate crimes, and to offer an appropriate level of support to victims.

Question 6

Racially or religiously motivated assaults, criminal damage, public order offences and harassment can be charged under what act and what version of the basic offence?

Answer 6

Crime and Disorder Act 1998

The aggravated version of the basic offence, these carry a heavier sentence on conviction.

Question 7

For a basic offence triable on indictment, a person who is found ‘not guilty’ of the aggravated version of that offence can still be charged with what?

Answer 7

The basic offence - this is known as the ‘alternative verdict’ (s 6(3) of the Criminal Law Act 1967.

For summary only basic offences , there is no power for the court to return an alternative verdict; therefore the defendant is more likely to be charged with both the basic and the racially or religiously aggravated offence.

Question 8

Sentence uplifts for disability, homophobic or transphobic hate crime are available to courts under what legislation?

Answer 8

s 146 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003.

This enables the court to increase a sentence for any offence that is aggravated by hostility on the grounds of disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity.

Question 9

What is the definition of racially or religiously aggravated?

Answer 9

s 28(1) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998

An aggravated offence is committed if [at the time of committing the offence or immediately before committing the offence or after committing the offence]…

…the offender demonstrates towards the victim of the offence, hostility based on…

…the victim’s membership (or presumed membership)..

…of a racial or religious group.

Question 10

Under s 29(1) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, the following types of assault as a basic offence can be racially or religiously aggravated:

Answer 10

Common assault

Any offence under s 47 of the Offences Against the person Act 1861

Any offence under s 20 of the Offences Against the person Act 1861

The motivation must be racially or religiously motivated.

Question 11

s 20 and s 47 of the Offences Against the person Act 1861 are triable by what?

Answer 11

Triable either way and the penalty is a fine or imprisonment (summarily 6 months, and 7 years on indictment).

Question 12

Racially or religiously aggravated criminal damage offences are covered in what legislation?

Answer 12

s 30 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998

Question 13

s 30 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 states what?

Answer 13

A person is guilty of this offence if he/she destroys or damages property belonging to another, and the acts are racially or religiously motivated.

There is no need to identify a specific victim and therefore spray painting racist graffiti on the wall would probably be an example of this offence.

Question 14

s 30 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (racially or religiously aggravated criminal damage)

Penalties

Answer 14

A fine or imprisonment (summarily, 6 months and up to 14 years on indictment).

Question 15

Section 31 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 covers what?

Answer 15

Covers the aggravated forms of basic public order offences.

Question 16

What are the basic public order offences (Public Order Act 1986) and the corresponding racially or religiously aggravated offences?

Fear or provocation of violence (s 4)

Answer 16

Racially of religiously aggravated offence (Crime and Disorder Act 1998)

s 31(1)(a)

Question 17

What are the basic public order offences (Public Order Act 1986) and the corresponding racially or religiously aggravated offences?

Intentional harassment, alarm or distress (s 4A)

Answer 17

Racially of religiously aggravated offence (Crime and Disorder Act 1998)

s 31(1)(b)

Question 18

What are the basic public order offences (Public Order Act 1986) and the corresponding racially or religiously aggravated offences?

Causing harassment, alarm, or distress (s 5)

Answer 18

Racially of religiously aggravated offence (Crime and Disorder Act 1998)

s 31(1)(c)

Question 19

The penalty for a s 31(1)(a) or (b) offence is what?

What about s 31(1)(c)?

Answer 19

Triable either way with a fine or imprisonment (summarily, 6 months, and 2 years on indictment).

Triable only summarily as it relates to a summary only basic offence (s 5 of the Public Order Act), and therefore has no alternative verdict. The penalty is a fine.

Question 20

Racially or religiously aggravated harassment offences are covered in what legislation?

Answer 20

s 32 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998

Question 21

s 32 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 covers what?

Answer 21

Offences that are racially and religiously aggravated forms of basic offences from the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 s 2 (harassment) and s 4 (putting people in fear of violence).

Question 22

What are the penalties for offences of aggravated harassment (s 32(1)(a) and aggravated putting people in fear of violence (s 32(1)(b)?

Answer 22

Triable either way and the penalty is a fine or imprisonment (6 months for a summary offence, and on indictment two years for a s 32(1)(a) offence and 14 years for a s 32(1)(b) offence.

For trials on indictment, a person who is not guilty can still be found guilty of the relevant basic harassment offence (s 32(5) and (6) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

Question 23

Victims of hate crimes and incidents may initially chose not to report the incident for fear of reprisals, in the hope that if they say nothing it will stop, or mistrust of the police because the perception is the police will not do anything. This could be the only opportunity to engage with the individual and make a positive impression that will feedback into the community.

Be flexible and tolerant to the needs of the victim to break down barriers, consider if:

Answer 23

they want to have a discussion in private,

there are any confidentiality issues (e.g. if they are gay but not ‘out’),

they need an interpreter/BSL (British Sign Language),
they cannot read or write etc.,

talk to them at an appropriate level,

don’t assume you should be talking to the carer or the person pushing the wheel chair (it can be very offensive!),

ask the victim for their consent to refer them to other agencies and provide them with any relevant hate crime investigation unit phone number and appropriate helpline numbers.

Question 24

ACPO defines a hate crime as:

Answer 24

“any hate incident, which constitutes a criminal offence, perceived by the victim or any other person, as being motivated by prejudice or hate.”

Question 25

Prejudice or hate may be based on characteristics including (based on Home Office five protected strands for recording data):

Answer 25

disability,
race,
religion,
sexual orientation,
gender.

Question 26

Aggravated Hate Crime

Ss.145 and 146 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 provide an examples of this. ‘Under section 146 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, the court must treat as an aggravating factor the fact that:

Answer 26

• an offender demonstrated hostility towards the victim based on his or her disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity (or presumed disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity); or
• the offence was (wholly or partly) motivated by hostility towards persons who have a particular disability, who are of a particular sexual orientation or who are transgender.’

Question 27

An aggravated offence is committed if any of the following three apply:

Answer 27

(i) AT THE TIME or
(ii) IMMEDIATELY BEFORE or
(iii) AFTER the offence, the offender demonstrates hostility based on the victim’s membership or presumed membership of a racial or religious group.

Question 28

The term ‘aggravated’ covers both ‘motivated and ‘demonstrated’ offences, i.e. an offence can be aggravated if it is:

Answer 28

motivated by something (i.e. what were they thinking)

demonstrated by something (i.e. how did they do it)

Question 29

Whilst much of the legislation focuses on racial and religiously aggravated offences, there are a number of other ‘protected strands’. These include:

Answer 29

Physical disability
Learning disability
Mental health
Sexual orientation / identity

Question 30

Racially or religiously aggravated assaults – the following types of assault can be racially or religiously aggravated according to s29 Crime & Disorder Act 1998

Answer 30

s20 Offences Against the Person Act 1861 (e.g. GBH, malicious wounding but not s18 ‘with intent’),

s47 Offences Against the Person Act 1861(ABH),

Common assault.

Question 31

Investigating Hate Crime

Initial actions: officer’s must remember that their initial actions at the scene can have a significant impact on the later success of an investigation. In some cases, this can make the difference between conviction and acquittal. It is particularly important to:

Answer 31

deal with the victim sensitively,

preserve the scene if appropriate,

gather evidence (especially forensic evidence),

locate and speak to witnesses,

deal with any suspect(s), whether present at the scene or not,

conduct an initial risk-assessment, there may be a local one to use.

Question 32

How do I identify, assess and manage risk?

The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime defines a victim of hate crime as…

Answer 32

an intimidated victim.

Question 33

The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime places an obligation on the police service to…

Answer 33

identify all vulnerable and intimidated victims and to provide them with the enhanced level of service to which they are entitled to during an investigation.

Question 34

What is used to try to achieve the aspirational situational and objective targets for managing risk for Victims of Crime?

Answer 34

Risk management is something we do on a daily basis. The RARA model (Risk Appetite and Risk Attitude) is used to try to achieve the aspirational situational and objective targets.

Question 35

Safeguarding

Safeguarding and risk assessing is key for all but it is particularly important, for example, in disability related hate crime where financial grooming, also known as ‘mate crime’, can often be dismissed all too quickly as civil debts.

This is probably the most prolific form of abuse and yet the least recorded. In these instances, best practice when dealing with vulnerable adults is to do what?

Answer 35

Submit a safeguarding referral form, especially where exploitation is believed to be taking place.

This should trigger a referral to the Police Public Protection Unit (or similar at your Police Service) and a referral to the local Council who will then send it to the appropriate department, that may be Social Care, Community Protection or one of their other agencies such as learning difficulties support team or mental health team.

Question 36

Why is Hate Crime treated differently?

Answer 36

In most crimes, the motivation for targeting a victim is due to something they have in their possession or control leading to a crime such as a theft, burglary or robbery.

In Hate Crime it is ‘Who’ the victim is, or ‘What’ the victim appears to be that motivates the offender to act on a prejudice or hostility towards a specific individual and the community they represent.

Question 37

Follow Up and Multi Agency Work After A Hate Crime

The follow up and ongoing support is just as important as the initial contact, victims can be left wondering what is happening or feel that they have been abandoned.

The following is a list of things you can do(but it’s not exhaustive so consider further options):

Answer 37

Ensure the relevant neighbourhood policing teams are notified and that they receive a copy of the crime report to assist in ongoing victim reassurance.

For more serious incidents, consider deploying a family liaison officer.

Consider referrals to local groups that can provide support to individuals, as well as organisations such as Victim Support, Tell MAMA, NAS (National Autistic Society), Stonewall, MIND, Mencap and Scope, etc.

Make a ‘contact contract’ with the victim to manage their expectations, you can remind them that they can also call you for updates.

Question 38

Offenders

The cause of people offending can be broad, things like…

Answer 38

Peer pressure, family background, socio-economic factors, suspicion and misunderstanding can be driving factors.

Question 39

A community can be defined as…

Answer 39

a group of people living in one locality or using the same media platform; equally it can be defined as a group of people who have characteristics in common, for example, cultural, religious, ethnic, physical or social.

Question 40

Making the Community Work For You

If they are not already in place, consider setting up:

Answer 40

Independent Advisory Groups

Scrutiny Panels

Third party reporting centres

Question 41

What are Independent Advisory Groups?

Answer 41

The value of these lay advisory groups, made up of members of the community, has been demonstrated by their successful contribution to community engagement for several years now.

The establishment of groups to help address problems affecting particular groups, e.g., Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, Gypsies, Traveller’s and Disabled has complemented this.

Question 42

What are Scrutiny Panels?

Answer 42

Can act as critical friends, helping develop the service we deliver by feedback from service users: Made up from people from LGBT, disability, racial and religious groups representing their communities and feeding back to improve response to hate crimes and incidents locally.

Question 43

What are Third party reporting centres?

Answer 43

These can be organisations representing communities or locations, such as libraries or other public or voluntary services, where people can report incidents and crimes via a third party if they prefer not to speak to the police directly.

These reports should still be crimed accordingly and can be used as intelligence to identify hot spots or rising tensions.

Additionally, reports may also be submitted through True Vision, Stop Hate UK and even Crimestoppers where the person reporting wishes to remain anonymous.

Question 44

What is correct in terms of a hate motivated offence targeted towards a Jewish person?

Answer 44

Racial and religious

Question 45

Section 28 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 states that one of the ways in which a relevant offence can be racially or religiously aggravated is only if:

Answer 45

Racial or religious hostility (based on the victim’s membership or presumed membership of a racial or religious group) was demonstrated towards the victim either at the time of committing the offence or immediately before or after.

Question 46

Difference between racial and religious groups?

Answer 46

• Racial group means a group of persons defined by reference to race, colour, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic or national origins (s 28(4)).
• Religious group means a group of persons defined by reference to religious belief or lack of religious belief (s 28(5)).

Question 47

James has a learning disability, he has a new friend who often comes round on benefits day and James has taken a phone contract out for his friend because he is short of money. He did promise to pay James back but several months later he has not given James any money and still uses the phone. James has to pay a large monthly bill for this phone. What would you consider this to be?

Answer 47

A hate crime towards James due to his learning disability being a factor in determining him being victimised

Question 48

SMITH is on his way to a fancy dress party as a character from Braveheart, wearing traditional Scottish dress. JONES sees him walking down the street and shouts at him, intending to cause him distress, “WHY DON’T YOU SCOTS PISS OFF BACK WHERE YOU CAME FROM?” whilst waving his fist. Several people in the street see and hear him and are alarmed. JONES is in fact from Cornwall and just finds the comments funny and waves. Does SMITH commit an offence of racially aggravated Section 4a Public Order (Intentional Harassment, Alarm or Distress)?

Answer 48

Yes, because SMITH has demonstrated hostility based on perceived membership of a racial group

Question 49

Steven is walking home one night and approaches an alleyway to take a short cut. There are a number of youths hanging around and Steven feels intimidated so chooses not to go down the alley. A number of the youths start shouting ‘faggot’ at Steven. Steven feels intimidated by this but he is heterosexual, what if any offence is committed?

Answer 49

S5 POA 1986 offence, uses threatening [or abusive] words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress, aggravated by a homophobic hate crime element