Non-crime hate incidents are defined as actions perceived to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards individuals due to characteristics such as race, religion, or disability, but which do not meet the legal threshold for a criminal offence. These incidents, while not prosecutable, are often recorded by police to monitor community tensions and identify patterns of abuse.
Campaigners Warn of Dire Consequences for Disabled Community
Researchers and disability advocates have issued a stark warning, stating that it would be "a disaster for disabled people" if police cease recording and investigating lower-level incidents of abuse. They argue that such actions frequently escalate into more serious hate crimes, and losing this data would strip law enforcement of crucial intelligence needed to protect vulnerable groups.
Home Secretary Confirms Scrapping of Controversial Category
As part of broad reforms to policing practices, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood confirmed earlier this week that the controversial category of non-crime hate incidents will be abolished in its current form across England and Wales. Mahmood has emphasised her desire for officers to concentrate on core duties, moving away from policing "perfectly legal tweets" and similar online expressions.
This decision follows a declaration by police chiefs last year that the category was not fit for purpose, prompted by high-profile cases where individuals faced arrest over social media posts concerning race and gender, raising significant free speech concerns.
Academic Insights Highlight Escalation Risks
Professor Stephen Macdonald, a professor of criminology and disability studies at Durham University, has extensively researched disability hate crime. He explains that "hate crime is the tip of the iceberg", with repeat hate incidents representing the hidden, daily reality for many disabled individuals. Examples from his research include neighbours banging on doors, blocking access routes, engaging in aggressive behaviour, or even throwing dog faeces at properties.
Professor Macdonald notes that such behaviours, while not always meeting the threshold for serious crimes, can often escalate into stalking, harassment, incitement of violence, or serious assaults. He points out that hate crime against disabled people is frequently overlooked in both government data and academic studies, with legal frameworks often centred on stranger assaults rather than the incremental abuse from neighbours, carers, or local youths that disabled people commonly face.
Personal Accounts Underscore the Impact
Mark Brookes, a campaigns advisor at Dimensions—the UK's largest specialist support provider for adults with learning disabilities and autistic people—shares a personal experience to illustrate the issue. A few years ago, while walking home from a station, he was followed by a car whose occupants revved the engine, laughed, shouted slurs like "mong" and "spastic", and threw an egg at him. Brookes, who has a learning disability, notes that this level of abuse is very familiar to the people he supports.
Brookes, who has trained over 3,000 police officers on encouraging people with learning disabilities to report hate crimes, describes another case where a man with a learning disability faced a campaign of name-calling and intimidation after neighbours became angry about a support worker's parking. He stresses that "it's really important to record these lower level incidents because they add up", forming a critical evidence base.
Policy Perspectives and Calls for Legal Strengthening
Louise Holden, senior policy officer for Inclusion London, highlights alarming statistics: only one in ten hate crimes against disabled people are believed to be reported, with low rates of investigation and conviction meaning victims rarely see justice. She asserts that recording and investigating non-crime hate incidents is vital for proving patterns of abuse and securing convictions.
Holden argues that at a time when disabled people's confidence in police handling of reports is already low, removing this evidence base is counterproductive. Instead, she advocates for strengthening the law, supporting the Law Commission's recommendation to make disability hate crime an aggravated offence, aligning it with other protected characteristics.
Diverging Approaches Across the UK
In contrast to the proposals for England and Wales, Police Scotland has indicated that they will continue to record non-crime hate incidents, stating these records "can be used for monitoring of community tensions and forward planning". This divergence underscores the ongoing debate over how best to balance free speech concerns with the need to protect vulnerable communities from escalating abuse.
The Home Office has been approached for further comment on the implications of these changes, as campaigners urge a reconsideration to prevent what they see as a detrimental step backwards for disability rights and public safety.
