A Where’s Wally tattoo to stick-on Hitler moustache: Rules around non-crime hate incidents to be scrapped

The “uproar” at work over a colleague discussing where Wally had a tattoo and someone pasting an “Adolf Hitler moustache” onto his face was included in more than 6,500 non-crime hate incidents (NCHI) to be struck down by Labor.

Under current rules, police are expected to record NCHIs where a criminal offense has not been committed but the person reporting it believes the incident was motivated by hostility or prejudice due to race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or transgender identity.

However, this week the government announced that these people would be dismissed. will be told to the police to stop recording casual conversations and online discussions.

Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood said officers “should be doing what they do best: patrolling our streets, catching criminals and keeping communities safe”. The move, which follows a review by the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council, will introduce a tighter definition of what a police force is. incident requiring police intervention.

Last year, freedom of information requests submitted by Independent It showed that many NCHIs registered in 2024 clearly complied with current registration rules, but many appeared suspicious.

Bedfordshire Police recorded a workplace “uproar” when a colleague described a Where’s Wally tattoo on his genitals as part of a recorded incident that included the worker calling the hat the complainant was wearing a “durag” and said it was “seen as quite racist/stereotypical”.

Cumbria Police recorded an NCHI in which two white women sang a song with the words Africa in the lyrics as they passed a Black woman in a store; The complainant perceived this as a hate incident due to race.

The same force also recorded a man who said things in public forums like “Citizens of the European Union, steal your jobs without depositing and withdraw money without contributing to society.”

And its officers also registered an NCHI after it was reported that a man had made a sticker to resemble an Adolf Hitler moustache and applied it to his face.

Staffordshire Police recorded a Palestinian flag sticker calling for a boycott of Israeli products being placed on a shop shelf, while North Wales Police noted a neighbor parked next to the complainant’s son and also noted a pentagram symbol spray-painted on the grass, believed to be linked to religious hatred and antisocial behaviour.

Police also recorded an incident where someone objected to a disabled person riding a mobility scooter on the sidewalk.

Humberside Police recorded a “grinning” student vehicle on the pavement blocking the right of way for the owner of a guide dog. Police also recorded an incident in which a male student called a person “Rishi”.

Another NCHI recorded by police said: “Woman sends an email to family members and police make a copy of the email. The email has nothing to do with the police and is a long rant targeting family members and referring to them as ‘pure evil Nazis’.”

Dorset Police recorded one incident summarized as “brown gravy on the car” and two other NCHIs were linked to youth pride events.

Dyfed-Powys Police in Wales recorded an incident where a person playing outside was targeted with radio static noise in an argument that started when they “fight over a chicken”.

Ministry of Internal Affairs’ code of practice on non-criminal hate incidents Updated in 2023 Raising the threshold for when personal data can be recorded in an NCHI in response to concerns about freedom of expression.

It appeared to reflect a decline in NCHIs recorded by the 29 police forces that responded to the FOI request. A total of 6,684 NCHIs were recorded in the 12 months ending October 31 last year; however, two powers provided data for calendar years.

This figure decreased from 7,036 the previous year to 8,389 in 2020/21.

Police Scotland recorded the most NCHIs with 1,173, followed by South Yorkshire with 513 and Nottinghamshire with 465.

In 2024, South Downs Police College president Lord Herbert suggested the need to “rebalance” the public’s response to events, saying police should be able to focus on their job rather than dealing with “mere disputes” that undermine public trust.

Watchdog Her Majesty’s Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services Inspectorate also found police were recording and attending too many NCHIs and not consistently applying national guidelines.

Critics included Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones, who said NCHIs should be scrapped in their current form. He said the police should not intervene in an incident that is not a crime.

Following this week’s announcement of an overhaul of NCHIs, the Home Office said it would update the national standard with a narrower definition indicating when police intervention is necessary.

It was stated that the new threshold will be more closely linked to core police work such as preventing and detecting crime, protecting life and property and maintaining public order.