Police need greater support from CPS as hate crime figures rise

The number of recorded hate crimes has increased by five per cent over the last year as police training methods and support from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) come under fire from academics.

New research from Nottingham Law School, on behalf of the Hate Crime Steering Group, revealed that while the majority of police officers understand what a hate crime is, current training techniques do not prepare them to deal with the most complicated of cases.

'Many of the officers I interviewed were not fully engaged with the training in its current format,' said Dr Loretta Trickett from Nottingham Trent University. 'Officers felt that they would instead benefit more if they could hear about colleagues' personal experiences and knowledge of dealing with hate crime and incidents, and gain an insight into what officers in other roles might do.'

Trickett, who conducted in-depth interviews with frontline officers from Nottinghamshire Police, also examined the role of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in helping officers to compile cases and communicate with victims.

'There needs to be more examples coming back from the CPS about cases where hostility has been proven and the factors involved,' she said. 'This would help the police to improve their knowledge and morale, and also assist them in communicating with victims, an important part of maintaining positive relationships with the public.'

At present, hate crimes make up approximately one per cent of all crime in the UK, with 44,480 crimes recorded by police between 2013 and 2014, a significant increase on figures from previous years.

'The police are increasingly the agency most under scrutiny when dealing with crimes motivated by prejudice but dealing with hate crime cannot be the responsibility of the police alone,' continued Trickett. 'It is essential that the role of other agencies is promoted and the lines of what the police can and can't do is highlighted and made public.'

She added: 'Much clearer lines of responsibility and ownership are needed. We need to be providing our police officers with considerably more support and resources for dealing with hate crime than we are currently doing.'

Commenting on the report, Superintendent Ted Antill said: 'Hate crime is a priority for Nottinghamshire Police but we cannot tackle it on our own. Partnership work is already well established and hugely important - to be effective in preventing this crime we all need to work together within our communities to encourage greater understanding and trust.'

Paul Giannasi, head of the cross-government hate crime programme said that while there had been improvements to responses to hate crimes since the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry in 1999, the majority of offences still are not being reported or recorded correctly.

'Hate Crime has emerged as a significant challenge for policing in the UK since the 1980s, as it has in many other states. It is known to cause increased harm to victims and has led to significant community fear and even instigated civil disorder,' he added.

Esther Nimmo is an editorial assistant at Solicitors Journal