Hate Crime

Total Closed Ongoing – on track Ongoing - delayed
15 10 0 5

Closures

Two recommendations have been closed since the last update – Recommendations 3 and 8.

Recommendation 3: Police Scotland should consider establishing a dedicated unit for hate crime. HMICS had observed that other areas of priority policing had dedicated units however this was not the case in relation to Hate Crime.

This recommendation was fully considered. Taking into account that Hate extended beyond criminal conduct it was concluded that the EDI team was best placed to provide a more holistic oversight of hate related matters. HMICS accepted the rational and evidence provided and agreed to close the recommendation.

Recommendation 8: Police Scotland should review hate crime national documents to ensure there is clear accessible guidance for officers and staff responding to and recording hate crime.

The Hate crime national documents have been reviewed and a number of guidance documents and training materials were developed and disseminated since the inspection. Most notably the new Responding to Hate Policy and SOP were recently published, and this recommendation is currently proposed for closure.

Contributing to Outcome 2 - The needs of local communities are addressed through effective service delivery;
Outcome 3 - The public, communities and partners are engaged, involved and have confidence in policing; and
Outcome 4 - Our people are supported through a positive working environment, enabling them to serve the public.

Progress since the last update

There are 5 recommendations ongoing.

Recommendation 2: Police Scotland should ensure the national policy direction for hate crime links up with the local delivery and response to hate crime.

Position: Since the inspection took place Police Scotland’s national policy and strategic direction has continued to evolve and inform our operational approach through the development of renewed governance, training and guidance materials a new SOP and refreshed information hubs and sharing forums which has resulted in greater consistency in engagement, recording and response.

Evidence is currently being collated and our response will be submitted to HMICS in the coming weeks.

Recommendation 5: Police Scotland should ensure that it maximises the benefits of strong partnership relationships and shares the knowledge of diversity issues developed by police officers and staff working in Safer Communities roles at national and local levels.

The recommendation seeks to ensure that the various effective local partnership relationships are shared with other areas to maximise opportunities across the country. Several reporting mechanisms, working groups, forums and information sharing arrangements exist in support of this, including the Policing Together Community Group.

Evidence is currently being collated and our response will be submitted to HMICS in the coming weeks.

Recommendation 6: Police Scotland should accelerate its work with partners to improve the Third-Party Reporting (TPR) arrangements, providing people with the option to report hate crime without speaking directly to the police.

Police Scotland has reviewed existing TPR arrangements and consulted with internal and external stakeholders including Scottish Government. A range of training has also been delivered across TPR Centres.

Evidence was submitted to HMICS in May 2024 proposing closure, however HMICS recommended the action remain open until Police Scotland provide evidence of improvements to the existing arrangements. A response is being developed.

Recommendation 10: Police Scotland should review its use of the data held on IT systems to build knowledge and understanding of trends in hate crime and the impact on affected communities.

Police Scotland now has access to a wealth of Hate related data from a variety of recording systems and reporting mechanisms. In addition, this data is being collated into a Power BI Dashboard, which will help to readily identify trends, geographical issues and comparisons and repeat victims. Evidence was submitted to HMICS in April seeking review for closure, however HMICS are seeking evidence of how this data is being used to and the impact on communities.

Recommendation 13: Police Scotland should review its approach to dealing with hate crime experienced by police officers and staff on duty and providing effective support. Data should be collected to identify the volume, nature and extent of hate crime perpetrated against police officers and staff.

Police Scotland has undertaken a review of our approach in relation to recording, identification of repeat victims, management and provision of support for officers who are victims of hate crime.

The new Responding to Hate SOP provides guidance around repeat victimisation and responsibilities where officers/staff are the victims. A Hate Welfare Support Assessment & Supervisor Toolkit has recently been withdrawn from use to ensure that the process or an updated version of it corresponds with the recently published SOP and other national Documents.

Evidence is currently being collated and our progress will be submitted to HMICS in the coming weeks.

Challenges and Risks

This report was published in 2021 and a significant amount of work has been undertaken since then both in response to the recommendations and the evolving landscape in terms of governance, structure, legislation, process and technology all of which have impacted upon delivery. In addition, the implementation of COS has provided a consistent method of recording and understanding performance but had also been subject to delay. The new legislation was also delayed which impacted the speed at which we were able to update our record set to provide guidance and training to our people.

The improvement activity has been managed as BAU and due to the passage of time there has been a high turnover of people and working groups touching different aspects of the improvement activity. This has led to a, sometimes, disparate and siloed approach and lack of clarity in relation to outcomes which has added to the challenge of collating, assessing progress/completion and cohesive interim reporting.

Work on the remaining actions is sufficiently advanced to mitigate the associated risks which prior to progress being made, related to public trust and confidence, staff wellbeing, and service delivery.