Children are among thousands of people being investigated by police for non-crime hate incidents, The Times can reveal.
Police forces recorded incidents against a nine-year-old who called a primary school classmate a “retard” and against two secondary school girls who said that another pupil smelt “like fish”.
They were among several cases of children being logged as having committed non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs), according to freedom of information requests to police forces.
Government guidance says that NCHIs are supposed to be recorded for incidents “clearly motivated by intentional hostility” and where there is a real risk of escalation “causing significant harm or a criminal offence”. Classroom incidents that do not amount to crimes are not supposed to be recorded, and neither are incidents involving journalists expressing lawfully held views with no hostility.
However, The Times has found evidence of widespread confusion among police over what types of incident should be recorded.
No 10 said that the Home Office would review its guidance to protect “the fundamental right to free speech” after the journalist Allison Pearson claimed she was being investigated over an NCHI. Essex police say this is inaccurate and have defended their handling of the case.
However, data collected by The Times shows the recording of NCHIs is widespread. More than 13,200 hate incidents were recorded in the 12 months to June this year, according to statistics from 45 of Britain’s 48 police forces.
Critics have asked whether the recording of non-crime hate incidents is an appropriate use of police resources, particularly in cases involving children.
Name-calling is part of human culture. Now the muzzle madness is perpetrating communistic tactics on free-spirited children. Silencing a child can grant him or her a lifetime sentence of subservience. Or the opposite could happen: DEFIANCE!!
Anyone been noticing a shortage of defiance these days?
.