Britain’s top police chiefs have warned that recording ‘non-crime hate incidents’ has become a ‘distraction’ which is damaging public trust.
Sir Andy Marsh who leads the College of Policing, Greater Manchester chief Sir Stephen Watson and Merseyside Chief Constable Serena Kennedy have jointly called for an overhaul of the legislation saying it needs ‘sorting out’ because the issue can do ‘immeasurable damage to trust and confidence’ in policing.
Launching a new leadership programme for policing, the trio spoke candidly about the need for future chief constables to communicate to the public how they are going to ‘cut crime, catch criminals, keep people safe,’ instead of wasting time on ‘hurty words’.
It comes after a series of controversial cases, including officers responding to incidents such as a nine-year-old pupil calling another a ‘retard’ and an occasion when two secondary schoolgirls said that a child smelled ‘like fish’.
More than 133,000 non-crime hate incidents have been recorded since they were introduced in 2014.
But in November the Home Secretary announced a review following a request from the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing, which sets standards.
Yesterday Sir Stephen said: ‘It’s easy to assume that we have some sort of weird fetish chasing stuff in social media, frankly we would rather really not if we can avoid it.
‘In the context of things that are communicated online, people will accuse us sometimes of pursuing hurty words on the basis, somehow, it’s an attack on free speech.’
Sir Andy Marsh (pictured), who has led the College of Policing since 2021, told the Mail: ‘When policing gets it wrong, it causes immeasurable damage to trust and confidence’
Greater Manchester police chief Sir Stephen Watson (pictured) said: ‘It’s easy to assume that we have some sort of weird fetish chasing stuff in social media, frankly we would rather really not if we can avoid it’
Chief Constable Serena Kennedy (pictured) said: ‘Non-crime hate incidents are having a disproportionate impact on trust and confidence in policing and we absolutely need to sort that out in terms of what is the role of policing’
He added: ‘I do think it has become a distraction. It has become something that the public trouble themselves over and particularly when they contrast our being seen to do things which they would argue are not matters for the police – and in certain examples they are right – contrast that with some of our failures to do some of the basics and that really annoys people.’
Ms Kennedy added: ‘Non-crime hate incidents are having a disproportionate impact on trust and confidence in policing and we absolutely need to sort that out in terms of what is the role of policing.
‘We also need to be clear that our officers are not spending hours and hours and hours dealing with these jobs every day… But the reason we do need to sort it out is because of the disproportionate impact it has on policing every time we hear about one of these stories.’
Sir Andy told the Mail: ‘When policing gets it wrong, it causes immeasurable damage to trust and confidence.’
