Lecture 15 Hate Crime

Question 1

What is the definition of a Hate Crime/ Incident?

Answer 1

“Any incident or criminal offence which may be real or perceived by the victim or anyone else (including the investigating officer) to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards a person because of their;
•	Race
•	Religion 
•	Sexual Orientation 
•	Gender Identity”

Question 2

What is a Hate Incident?

Answer 2

Hate incident
Any non-crime incident 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, or
o any racial group or ethnic background including countries within the UK and Gypsy and Traveller groups
• a person’s religion or perceived religion, or
o any religious group including those who have no faith
• a person’s sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation, or
o any person’s sexual orientation
• a person’s disability or perceived disability, or
o any disability including physical disability, learning disability and mental health or developmental disorders
• a person who is transgender or perceived to be transgender,
o including people who are transsexual, transgender, cross dressers and those who hold a Gender Recognition Certificate under the Gender Recognition Act 2004.

Question 3

What is Non-Crime Hate Incident?

Answer 3

A non-crime hate incident is any incident which is perceived by the victim or any other person to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice against an identifiable group of people.

Question 4

How to respond to online hate crimes?

Answer 4

Responding to online hate crimes
The responsibilities of the police when responding to online hate are the same as those for any other type of hate crime or non-crime hate incident.
Specific offences may include offences under the Malicious Communications Act 1988 and Communications Act 2003 to prosecute examples of grossly offensive messaging. Prosecutions for these offences in respect of social media require the authority of the CPS director of legal services.
If an allegation does not include a crime, the incident should be recorded as a non-crime hate incident. The victim can be encouraged to contact their internet service providers (ISP) to ask them to remove the offensive material. Most ISPs have terms of service or acceptable use policies, which prohibit users from posting hateful or illegal material online. If they report to True Vision, it will be recorded centrally as a non-crime hate incident.
True Vision provides advice to the public about how to approach hosts where offensive material is found, but it is not illegal material. See also Responding to non-crime hate incidents.
The following may be able to provide additional sources of advice for online hate:
• hate crime unit or coordinator
• digital media investigators
• digital forensic teams
• counter-terrorism unit.
Most police forces also have a SPoC to liaise with ISPs and mobile device operators. This may help to establish the source of messages sent.