A campaign is underway to abolish the recording of “Non-Crime Hate Incidents” (NCHIs). What is an NCHI and why should we care in the event that they are abolished or not?
NCHIs were devised by the College of Policing in 2014. If an individual is accused of a “hate crime”, but a police investigation finds no evidence of against the law being committed, then it leads to an NCHI being recorded.
Such a record can have serious repercussions, showing up on an individual’s criminal record and appearing on advanced DBS checks, meaning that an individual with an NCHI to their name could be barred from working as a teacher or in similar professions.
One of the good problems with the practice is that what passes for a “hate crime” is amazingly subjective. The Free Speech Union, which has been campaigning against NCHIs for five years, gave the instance of a person in Bedfordshire who was given an NCHI after his neighbour accused him of whistling “Bob the Builder” each time he saw him.
The vagaries of what constitutes a “hate crime” make it particularly vulnerable to misuse and abuse by cops who’re either out of their depth or actively malicious.
As conservative activist and “free speech absolutist” Carl Benjamin points out: “There’s an element of me that feels bad [for the police] … They are generally not our greatest and brightest, they’re generally quite normal individuals who would not have an in depth background in literature, philosophy or the humanities … and what they’re being asked to do is be not only cops, but in addition philosophers.”
Benjamin noted that even well-meaning cops are put within the very difficult situation of getting to evaluate whether an motion or a phrase is against the law or not. More worryingly the ambiguities provide a gap for bad actors to use.
Banjamin says, “You open the door to people who find themselves bad intentioned. You open the door to individuals who just need to find a way to have a platform by which to essentially torture members of the general public.”
A superb demonstration of that is the case of Angus Cameron. Cameron is a Christian street preacher who was arrested in Scotland in 2022 for allegedly homophobic statements.
Before being arrested, Cameron interacted with a police officer who had no issue with the person’s preaching, saying he understood that “all you’re wanting to do is put your point across and also you’re taking quotes out of the Bible, and I’m not going to challenge you on that”.
That’s where the story must have ended. But later one other police officer challenged Cameron, saying a criticism had been made about homophobic comments. The officer refused to say what the comments were.
Cameron defended himself, saying he was simply quoting from scripture. The officer’s response was, “As much as you’re preaching from the scriptures, individuals are still offended by that.” She accused him of breaching the peace with homophobic aggravation.
Cameron was then arrested and detained. No crime was deemed to have been committed and he was released, but with an NCHI recorded to his name.
Eventually, with the assistance of The Christian Institute, Cameron took legal motion against Police Scotland. He was awarded £5,500 in compensation and £9,400 in legal costs and the NCHI was deleted.
While it could have worked out all right ultimately for Cameron, it should never have reached the stage that it did.
NCHIs are a waste of police time, they open the door to malicious actors, and have a stifling effect on free speech. How many strange people don’t speak their mind on an entire host of issues just because they fear the repercussions? And that is Britain – not Iran!
The Free Speech Union is urging people to jot down to their MPs to support a proposed amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that will abolish NCHIs. The amendment is being proposed by Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, and if passed, can be a welcome step forward.
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