Implementing Police-Led Responses To Hate Crime: A Case Study Of One English Northern Town
| Author | Kyle Hudson, Dr. Craig Paterson |
| Pages | 21-40 |
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British Journal of Community Justice
©2020 Manchester Metropolitan University
ISSN 1475-0279
Vol. 16(1) 21–40
IMPLEMENTING POLICE-LED RESPONSES TO HATE
CRIME: A CASE STUDY OF ONE ENGLISH NORTHERN
TOWN
Kyle Hudson, Derby City Council, and Craig Paterson, The Helena Kennedy Centre for
International Justice, Sheffield Hallam University
Abstract
Since the seminal 1999 Macpherson report, hate crime has become a barometer for
contemporary police relations with vulnerable and marginalised communities. The need to
understand hate has resulted in a demand for impartial law enforcement and skilled police
officers who appreciate the nuances of hatred and its impact on v ulnerable populations.
However, whilst the police are increasingly expected to be active agents in th e response to
hate crime, they continue to be criticised for over-policing and under-protecting certain
communities.
This paper examines the ins ights of key stakeholders involved in policing anti-Muslim hate
crime in a northern town in England, gathered through in-depth semi-structured interviews
with the region’s police force and a third-sector agency. The paper unpacks what the
policing of anti-Muslim hate crime entails, d rawing upon the role of different agencies and
providing lessons for the services involved in the current police-led model. Our results point
to variability in understanding what constitutes anti-Muslim hate crime; challenges in
understanding and responding to victims’ needs with limite d resources; and the need for a
system which extends beyond a criminal justice response.
Keywords
Hate crime, victims, policing, Macpherson, training
Hudson and Paterson
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Introduction
Although hate crime is a relatively new offence, acts of aggression and discrimination
motivated by racial and religious prejudice have a long history in England and Wales
(Bowling, 1999). Yet, it was not until the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 and the
ensuing Macpherson report (Macpherson, 1999) into the handling of the case that the
complex and nuanced features of crime and policing problems faced by minority
communities were brought into the sp otlight. This paper explores these issues with a
specific focus upon religious hate crime committed agai nst Muslims. Although these
offences continue to grow expeditiously (Home Office, 2018; Tell MAMA, 2018), evidence
suggests that victims receive an unsatisfactory state response, which has a profound impact
upon Muslim communities (Chakraborti and Hardy, 2017). Faced with experiences of over-
policing and under-protection, these communities question the liberal juridical duties o f
criminal justice institutions and mun icipal agencies to provide equal protection and formal
remedies (Paterson et al., 2018). It is in this context that the Macpherson report and the
highly visible Stephen Lawrence case have prov ided driv ers for reform for institutions
perceived b y many minority communities to be complicit in propagating ethno-religious
power and privilege.
However, whilst previous research into the response to anti-Muslim hatred has focussed
chiefly upon the public police, there has been scant investigation into the interplay between
other agencies that supplement the work of sworn police officers, including non-
governmental organisations and other municipal policing agents. Recognising the problems
with the current police-led model, this paper unpacks what the policing of anti-Muslim hate
crime entails and analyses the ro le and function of different agencies in providing
recommendations for those services involved. Whilst affirming the need for effective
leadership, governance and a range of core agenci es that share common aims and
objectives, this paper also points to variability in understandings of what constitutes anti-
Muslim hate crime, challenges in understanding and responding to the needs of victims with
limited resources, and the need for a system which extends understandings of hate crime
beyond merely a criminal justice response.
The fieldwork for this study was carried out in 2017 by the lead researcher , who sought to
understand the difficulties of policing anti-Muslim hate crime in an anonymised northern
English town through the use of semi-structured interviews.
Insofar as the elision of hate crime and hate incidents is unhelpful (because not all hate
incidents constitute a crime), the fieldwork identified a tendency of practitioners to conflate
the concepts. However, we ought not to reinforce this here and will thus keep the concepts
distinct. It is from this perspective that we adopt the College of Policing’s (2014:4) definition
of a religiously motivated hate crime as:
Any criminal offence which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to
be motivated by a hostility or prejudice based on a person’s religion or
perceived religion
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