Public Protection and Safety Hate Crime PDF

Public Protection and Safety PPS01 Hate Crime Introduction Hate crime has, in recent years, been the focus of many police services across the UK. It particularly hit the headlines in 1993 with the murder of Stephen Lawrence which subsequently resulted in the Macpherson Inquiry. In...

Public Protection and Safety PPS01 Hate Crime Introduction Hate crime has, in recent years, been the focus of many police services across the UK. It particularly hit the headlines in 1993 with the murder of Stephen Lawrence which subsequently resulted in the Macpherson Inquiry. In terms of how this impacts upon policing, the national policing lead for hate crime at the time, Deputy Chief Constable Drew Harris, said: “The Macpherson Inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 highlighted the deep damage caused by such targeted violence and its impact on the public’s fear of crime and community cohesion. While the police service has come a long way in our response to hate crime since then, there is still much work to increase confidence in the police service.” It is clearly a topical and emotive issue which results in a strong media presence when a hate incident or crime takes place. It sends a message to both the community involved and the wider society that certain members of our community are not welcome and are being targeted. As a police officer it is your responsibility and mission to keep people safe, all people, not simply those from a certain community. OFFICIAL [PUBLIC] Page 2  Legislation context Unlike the Crime and Disorder Act for England and Wales, Northern Ireland has no specific legislation detailing hate offences. The Criminal Justice (No2) (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 has however provided courts with the power to increase sentences where an offence is aggravated by hostility based on the victims actual or presumed religion, race, sexual orientation or disability. The Criminal Justice (No. 2) (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 Increase in sentence for offences aggravated by hostility. This Article applies where a court is considering the seriousness of an offence. If the offence was aggravated by hostility, the court - (a) Shall treat that fact as an aggravating factor (that is to say, a factor that increases the seriousness of the offence); and (b) Shall state in open court that the offence was so aggravated. 1. For the purposes of this Article an offence is aggravated by hostility if: (a) At the time of committing the offence, or immediately before or after doing so, the offender demonstrates towards the victim of the offence hostility based on the victim’s membership (or presumed membership) of a racial group; the victim’s membership (or presumed membership) of a religious group; the victim’s membership (or presumed membership) of a sexual orientation group; a disability or presumed disability of the victim; or (b) The offence is motivated (wholly or partly) by hostility towards - OFFICIAL [PUBLIC] Page 3   members of a racial group based on their membership of that group;  members of a religious group based on their membership of that group;  members of a sexual orientation group based on their membership of that group;  Persons who have a disability or a particular disability. It is therefore essential that the evidence associated with the perceived motivation or how the offender demonstrated hostility to the victim must be clearly outlined within the prosecution papers to provide sufficient evidence and information to enable the court to consider the use of this power. The impact of hate incidents can be long lasting and far reaching, not only for the victim but also their family, and community. Remember the core principles of policing with the community when dealing with suspected hate crime or incidents. It is important to note that victims often experience repeat incidents and it is recognised that low-level hate incidents can lead to more serious types of incidents occurring and therefore reporting of low-level incidents should be encouraged and treated as seriously as other incidents. What this essentially means is that your actions at a hate-related incident are of extreme importance to both the victim and the wider community. Your approach and subsequent investigation must explore all avenues of both investigations of the offence and support for those affected. Within the PSNI there exists a PSNI Hate Crime Governance Structure headed up by an Assistant Chief Constable and Superintendent. Each of the 11 policing districts have an appointed Chief Inspector Hate Crime district champion, and there exist hate and signal crime officers (HSCO’s) for each district. This highlights how serious hate crime has become in Northern Ireland but equally how serious the PSNI are treating such crimes and incidents. The present Service Instruction for hate crime/incidents is SI 2117 – this can be found on PoInt. It is a comprehensive guide for helping officers at every level to respond OFFICIAL [PUBLIC] Page 4 positively and reduce under-reporting of hate crime What is a Hate Incident? In its simplest form the above can be defined as the following: Key Learning Point A hate incident is defined as: “Any incident which may or may not constitute a criminal offence, which is perceived by the victim or any other person as being motivated by prejudice or hate.” What this essentially means is that all hate crimes are hate incidents also however not all hate incidents are hate crimes. Both definitions also include the phrase, “perceived by the victim or any other person as being motivated by prejudice or hate.” The key point to remember is that any incident or crime, not a particular category, can be determined as a hate crime/incident if it is perceived to have been motivated by hate.  How do we as police officers determine perception?  What is this perception test? The Perception Test It must be clearly understood, that to report a hate incident, evidence that it is indeed a hate incident/crime is NOT needed. Perception on the part of anyone is all that is required. The perceived motivation will be recorded and investigated in addition to any other criminal offences, which are being investigated. Evidence is not the test; the perception test relates to anyone’s perception. OFFICIAL [PUBLIC] Page 5 It would not be appropriate to record a crime or incident as a hate crime or hate incident if it was based on the perception of a person or group who had no knowledge of the victim, crime or the area, and who may be responding to media or internet stories or who are reporting for a political or similar motive. So whilst it is classed as “anyone’s perception” this must be used within reason based on the factors above. So, for example if it is not the victim who perceives it to be a hate motivated incident/ crime. The other person could, however, be one of a number of people. This may include police officers or staff, witnesses, family members, civil society organisations who know details of the victim, the crime or hate crimes in the locality, such as a third-party reporting charity, a carer or other professional who supports the victim, someone who has knowledge of hate crime in the area – this could include many professionals and experts such as the manager of an education centre used by people with learning disabilities who regularly receives reports of abuse from students, a person from within the group targeted with the hostility, e.g., a traveller who witnessed racist damage in a local park. The bottom line is that when an incident or crime has been reported to police by the victim or by any other person and they perceive it as being motivated by prejudice or hate; it will be recorded and investigated as a hate incident or crime PSNI will accept without challenge the view of a victim or any other person that the crime was motivated by hate on one of the defined grounds. What are these defined grounds? The Police Service of Northern Ireland will record hate incidents where there is a perception on the part of the victim or any other person that the motivation for the prejudice or hate towards the injured party is based upon the following 6 categories: RACIST HOMOPHOBIC RELIGIOUS/FAITH DISABILITY SECTARIAN TRANSPHOBIC OFFICIAL [PUBLIC] Page 6 However, it must be noted that although for recording purposes the PSNI has 6 categories of hate crime, the Criminal Justice (No2) (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 (enhanced sentencing) refers to 4 categories only, namely: racism; sexual orientation; religious/faith; disability. For investigative and operational purposes, an officer within the PSNI will stick to the 6 categories contained above, with the breakdown as below: Meaning of Terms Racist Any incident/criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice based on a person’s race or perceived race. A racial group is any racial group or ethnic background or national origin, including countries within the UK, and gypsy and traveller groups. Religious Any incident/criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice based on a person’s religion. This includes any religious group, including those who have no faith. Homophobia Any incident/criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice based on a person’s sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation. Disability Any incident/criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice based on a person’s disability or perceived disability. This includes any disability including physical, sensory or learning disability and Transphobia. OFFICIAL [PUBLIC] Page 7 Any incident/criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice against a person who is transgender or perceived to be transgender. Sectarianism Any incident/criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice based on a person’s religious denomination or political opinion. It is broadly accepted that within the N.I. context an individual or group must be perceived to be:  Catholic or Protestant;  National or Unionist;  Loyalist or Republican can also relate to other religious denominations for example Sunni and Shi’ite in Islam. When considering hate crimes marked as sectarian or transphobic, the PPS have to consider which of the categories it “best fits” before the case may be opened in court for the judiciary to consider applying an enhanced sentence created by the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2004. Investigating Hate Crimes/Hate Incidents Whilst it has already been alluded to that not all hate incidents will include crimes - the recording, monitoring and support to victims will apply equally to hate incidents whether it constitutes a criminal offence or not. Why are police focusing on something that has not been declared a crime? Recorded hate-related incident figures have increased in recent years however it is widely understood that there still remains a large amount of unreported incidents/ crimes. The reasons for this will be explored in class. OFFICIAL [PUBLIC] Page 8 A key component is how you conduct your investigation. Attending and recording details is simply not enough. You must ensure that you take the time to understand the victim and/or witnesses. This is a key first step in your investigation. You may be faced with some barriers to communication; such as language, cultural or learning needs based challenges. Regardless of these hurdles, it is imperative that you engage with the appropriate services e.g. translators, registered intermediaries and appropriate adults in order to ensure that you are handling of the incident is both professional and victim driven. Never forget that hate-related incidents have a far reaching impact and your actions, no matter how small, will have an equally rippled effect on the wider community and perception of policing in Northern Ireland. Role/Responsibilities of the PSNI in Dealing with Hate Crime/Incidents Report Greater confidence, co-operation and increased reporting will be achieved if the police service deals effectively and professionally with hate incidents and continues to proactively build positive relationships with representatives and support organisations for minority and vulnerable groups, particularly at the first point of contact. The Police Service will:  Record, respond and investigate all reported hate incidents in a consistent, robust,  Proactive and effective manner.  Ensure that every reported hate investigation is appropriately supervised.  Ensure that every victim of a hate incident is offered the assistance of an officer carrying out the hate and signal crime role and provided with information relating to local statutory and voluntary support agencies. OFFICIAL [PUBLIC] Page 9   Take reasonable/appropriate steps to identify and protect repeat victims.  Work in partnership with other statutory and non-statutory partner agencies.  Organisations to address areas of hate incident prevention, reporting and response. Police officers have statutory duty (section 32 of the Police (Northern Ireland) Act 2000) to:  Protect life and property.  Preserve order.  Prevent the commission of offences; and  Where an offence has been committed, take measures to bring offenders to justice. When carrying out these duties police officers shall protect human dignity and uphold the Human Rights of all persons. Human Rights The following Human Rights are potentially engaged when dealing with hate incidents:  Right to Life (Article 2 ECHR)  Prohibition on inhuman and degrading treatment (Article 3 ECHR)  Right to respect for family and private life (Article 8 ECHR)  Right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion (Article 9 ECHR)  Freedom of expression (Article 10 ECHR)  Prohibition of discrimination (Article 14 ECHR) LPT (Local Policing Team) Officers Role: LPT Officers will be tasked to attend the scene of the hate incident/Crime and investigate the report unless otherwise directed. Background checks regarding the individual/address involved etc. will be made to ensure the appropriate action is taken OFFICIAL [PUBLIC] Page 10 and to identify repeat victims. Consideration will be given to cultural issues, language and literacy requirements of each hate incident to ensure awareness of sensitivities. If in doubt simply ask the victim sensitively/carefully about their needs, worries, or concerns. The investigating officer will liaise with LPT officer(s) carrying out the hate and signal crime role as well as CID to formulate the investigative strategy in relation to the hate incidents. Consideration should be sought from other specialist departments, for example crime prevention officer and the use of the hate incident practical action (HIPA) scheme. Referral to victim support including the advocacy services should be encouraged. Information on the roles attributed to those involved in investigating a Hate Incident/ Crime can be found in Service Instruction SI 2117. These will be discussed within the lesson when considering the assessment of risk. OFFICIAL [PUBLIC] Page 11