Understanding the difference: the initial police response to hate crime
Summary
Crimes motivated by hate can have an intense, enduring and sometimes devastating effect on victims and communities. It is particularly distressing to be a victim of crime because of who you are or what you believe.
In 2016, the former Home Secretary commissioned HMICFRS to to carry out an inspection of police forces’ understanding of, and response to, hate crime of all types.
Based on the findings from an initial scoping study, HMICFRS carried out an inspection into the following areas:
- how forces raise awareness of hate crime in their communities;
- initial call handling;
- crime and incident recording, including the use of hate crime and online flags;
- how forces use problem profiles to help identify trends and patterns of offending and victimisation;
- the risk assessments that forces carry out to determine the response and ongoing support to the victim, and the risk management that follows; and
- the police response to reports of hate crime; and the system for referrals to victim support services.
This report sets out the findings from this inspection.
For further information on the inspection, including how to report a hate crime, please see the hate crime webpage.
Get the report
Understanding the difference: the initial police response to hate crime (PDF document)
Get the press release
Police must grasp ‘one chance’ to take action for victims of hate crime