Orwellian: UK police spend 60,000 hours a year on non-criminal ‘hate’ 

British police spend an estimated 60,000 hours a year investigating reports of non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs), according to a new study.

What is an NCHI?

While not criminal offenses, NCHIs are incidents where someone belonging to a protected class feels that they were treated with hostility. An NCHI may be reported to police if a person claims that someone else treated them with ill will, spite, contempt, prejudice, unfriendliness, antagonism, resentment, or dislike based on their race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or transgender identity.

The stated purpose of reviewing NCHIs is for police to gather intelligence on “hate” and learn to recognize behavior that shows “early warning signs” of a hate crime. No legislation requires law enforcement to review NCHIs. According to the Free Speech Union, the practice is based on guidance published by the College of Policing (CoP), a semi-independent oversight body.

NCHI examples

In one example of an NCHI, a woman complained that her neighbors had left their “soiled underpants” hanging out for two months. North Wales Police recorded it as an NCHI because the woman had an Italian last name and the underwear was hung in the same month that Italy beat England in the Euros final.

In other instances reported by the Daily Mail, NCHIs were reported when a West Yorkshire doctor misdiagnosed a bisexual patient, a nine-year-old called a classmate a “retard,” a person in Norfolk called a Welsh person a “sheep shagger,” and a former policeman questioned in a social media post whether “transgender women” are real women.

Citizens are not necessarily notified if they are accused of an NCHI, but it is recorded against their name in criminal databases. NCHIs can come up in background checks by employers, which means that someone who expresses a disfavored opinion in public or in private can lose employment opportunities if it is reported.

‘A devastating impact on the public’

A recent study from the think tank Policy Exchange estimates that British police are spending approximately 60,000 hours a year investigating NCHIs.

“Each report takes several hours to record, investigate and supervise – involving several police officers, police staff and supervisors,” the report said. “Given there are estimated to be 13,200 NCHIs completed per annum nationally, it is reasonable to conclude that over 60,000 police hours per annum are being spent on NCHIs.”

“The NCHI regime is having a devastating impact on the public and their perception of policing,” said former Metropolitan Police Detective Chief inspector David Spencer, who authored the report. “By abolishing the entire NCHI regime the Government has an opportunity to keep the police's attention on what really matters to the public – catching the burglars, drug dealers and violent thugs who cause misery to the lives of millions.”

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