Surrey Police – Hate Crime

What is a hate crime?

• A criminal offence, perceived by the victim or any other person, as being motivated by prejudice or hate.

What is a hate incident?

• A hate incident is any non-crime perceived by the victim or any other person, as being motivated by prejudice or hate’.
• Although a Hate incident is not a crime, it is important to report as it can easily escalate to crime or tension within a community. The Police can only prosecute when the law is broken but they can work with partners to try and prevent any escalation.

Anything where someone believes they are being targeted with hostility and prejudice, simply because of who they are has no place in our society.

This can be prejudice or hostility towards someone’s:

• Disability
• Race or Ethnicity
• Religion or Belief
• Sexual Orientation
• Transgender Identity

In Surrey – we also look at Alternative Subcultures which is any crime/incident which is perceived, by the victim or any other person, to be motivated (wholly or partially) by a hostility or prejudice based on a person’s connection or membership to an Alternative lifestyle/culture. This would typically include those who identify as Goths, Emos, New Age, and any subculture which has a strong identity with distinctive dress, specific and shared values and shared music styles.

How do I report a hate crime?

Is it an emergency?

Does it feel like the situation could get heated or violent very soon? Is someone in immediate danger? Do you need support right away? If so, please call 999.

If you have a hearing or speech impairment, use our textphone service 18000 or text us on 999 if you’ve pre-registered with the emergencySMS service.

If it is not an emergency and you are not in immediate danger, you can call 101.

You can also report online at https://www.surrey.police.uk which can allow you to take your time in reporting.

If you do not wish to speak to the Police – you can report through different organisations:

True Vision: https://www.report-it.org.uk

Crimestoppers: https://crimestoppers-uk.org A national charity with a free helpline for reporting crime anonymously.

https://tellmamauk.org A national project supporting victims of anti-Muslim hate and monitoring anti-Muslim incidents.

https://cst.org.uk A charity protecting British Jews from antisemitism and related threats.

https://galop.org.uk A national charity providing advice and support to members of the LGBT community.

What details do I need to be able to report a hate crime?

Typically the details wanted will be your personal details like your name, date of birth, contact details, home address, the date and time of the incident, location and what happened. Description of the other person/s involved. If you believe it was motivated by one of the Hate Crime strands then state this and why you think it was motivated by prejudice or hostility.  

I don’t think it’s worth reporting it to the police as I don’t think it’ll be taken further.

The circumstances around every crime are unique, so the way we investigate each one can vary, but we treat reports of crime seriously and investigate each with impartiality. Every investigation will start with the same basic steps to make sure we gather all the relevant information and keep you informed.

The investigation process:

First, we’ll make sure that we’re the correct police force to investigate the crime you’ve reported. For example, if it took place in a train station, this would be a matter for British Transport Police (BTP). In this case, we’d send them your report and they’d continue the investigation.

Once we’ve established we’re the correct police force, we’ll issue you with a crime reference number. How quickly we can do this depends on the complexity of the incident and number of other authorities involved.

We’ll then carry out an ‘investigative assessment’. This is where we review all of the information we’ve gathered and decide whether to investigate your report further.

We base our decision on four key factors:

• vulnerability of the victim
• severity of the offence
• likelihood it can be solved
• the most effective use of resources 

Next, we’ll conduct an initial investigation. This could involve:

• talking to witnesses
• assessing the scene of the crime
• reviewing CCTV or video footage
• gathering other evidence such as forensic samples
• searching our intelligence database

Possible outcomes.

There are two possible outcomes to an investigative assessment. Once we’ve made a decision, we’ll contact you to explain and offer any advice, if needed.

1. Your case will be investigated further

If we decide to look into your case further we’ll assign an investigating officer to you. They’ll act as your single point of contact during the investigation, answering any of your questions and keeping you updated as the case progresses.

If you need to provide a statement, they’ll talk you through it. We will also discuss what options are available in terms of prosecution or if not wanting to go down this route, other forms of potential intervention.

2. The investigation will be closed

If we decide to close the investigation, it’s probably because we’ve completed our initial steps and there are no further leads we can proportionately follow at that time. 

Sometimes we receive new information or discover new evidence, in which case we can reopen the investigation and send you an update.

Regardless of whether this happens, your report and the information we gather as part of the investigation will become a vital part of how we police. It helps decide where and when we use police resources to detect and prevent crime.

In the unlikely event you need to go to court, they’ll introduce you to a member of the Witness Care Unit who’ll guide you each step of the way.

Why it is important to report.

By reporting them when they happen to you or others, you may be able to prevent these incidents from happening to someone else. It also helps the Police to better understand what is happening in the local area and how to better respond to it. Reporting does make a difference.

The links to neighbourhood team

The following link will take you to all eleven boroughs and show each Safer Neighbourhood Team and their contact details: https://www.surrey.police.uk/police-forces/surrey-police/areas/au/about-us/your-area

What to do if you are still unsure whether this is a hate crime.

Dimensions gives some good explanation as to what Hate Crime is and specifically to those with a Disability. They have some excellent videos and some examples of what might constitute a Disability Hate Crime and some of the campaigns they have and are doing: https://dimensions-uk.org/dimensions-campaigns/about-disability-hate-crime/what-is-a-hate-crime/.