Strategic Leadership
Hate Crime — Authorised Professional Practice
Summary
Chief constables are tasked with establishing clear policies for ownership of hate crime investigations, emphasizing priority responses and appropriate screening of incidents. The National Policing Hate Crime Strategy provides guidelines for effective responses, enabling senior leaders to assess the quality of service and implement necessary improvements. Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) often prioritize hate crime in their crime plans, requiring chief constables to align strategies accordingly and assess success based on established commitments. Key review questions for chief officers include evaluating prioritization and quality of responses to hate crime, understanding under-reporting, and ensuring the needs of vulnerable victims are met. Partnerships with community stakeholders are crucial, particularly in data sharing and enhancing responses to hate crime.
Key principles
- 1Establish ownership of hate crime investigations
- 2Prioritize responses to all hate crimes
- 3Utilize the National Policing Hate Crime Strategy
- 4Align strategies with PCC commitments
- 5Assess service quality and response effectiveness
- 6Ensure tailored responses for vulnerable victims
- 7Strengthen partnerships for data sharing
Defined terms
- PCC
- Police and Crime Commissioner
Full guidance
Responding to public protection and major investigation issues, for example, child abuse, knife crime and sexual offences
This page is from APP, the official source of professional practice for policing.
Chief constables should establish a policy that clearly indicates ownership of hate crime investigations. All hate crimes should be considered for a priority response and be appropriately screened and allocated to ensure the best outcome.
The National Policing Hate Crime Strategy outlines the recommended approach to hate crime. Senior leaders should be able to assess each level of the police response to determine the overall quality of service and make necessary improvements.
Many PCCs have made tackling hate crime a priority in their police and crime plans. Chief constables should determine their strategy according to these commitments, and measure success against them.
Chief officers can review their organisation’s response to hate crime by answering the following questions.
Is hate crime given sufficient priority? * What is the quality of response to hate crime reports? * Are auditing processes in place to ensure that hate crimes are accurately recorded and responded to appropriately? * Does the organisation know the extent of under-reporting of hate crime? * Are responses tailored to the needs of the most vulnerable victims? * Are victims and affected communities satisfied with their local police response? * Do performance criteria support the key objectives of the National Policing Hate Crime Strategy? * How strong are partnerships with key stakeholders and community groups? * Do such partnerships have adequate data and intelligence sharing capabilities?
See Performance management for a range of tools which can help managers to assess the quality of service provided.
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Read the full APP guidanceSource: College of Policing — Authorised Professional Practice · Crown copyright, licensed under Open Government Licence v3.0. Summary fetched 2026-06-27.