Hate Crime
A hate crime is any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice based on their ‘protected characteristic’.
Those ‘protected characteristics’ as set by the Home Office are:
- Race (which includes ethnicity or nationality)
- Religion or Belief
- Sexual orientation
- Disability
- Transgender
Devon & Cornwall Police also monitor:
- Sex or Gender.
Hate crime can be against the person, or a person's property. Devon and Cornwall police record any crime which is perceived to be motivated by hostility. Where the victim, or any other person, perceives that they have been targeted because of hate or hostility against a monitored or non-monitored personal characteristic, the crime will be recorded and flagged as a hate crime.
What are hate incidents?
Hate incidents are any non-criminal incidents which are perceived by the victim or any other person to be motivated by hostility or prejudice. This may be an incident involving prejudicial behaviour where the criminal threshold is not met, such as someone being offended because a person has a different viewpoint on faith or an immigration policy, and whilst it might cause offence to a person, it would not meet a criminal threshold because they have an entitlement to have an opinion under the ‘Freedom of Speech’.
Further information about hate crime and hate incidents can be found on the Devon and Cornwall Police website.
How to report a hate crime or incident
You can report a hate crime or incident in a number of ways:
To the police
- call Devon & Cornwall Police on 101 (non-emergency) or 999 (emergency)
- complete the Devon & Cornwall Police 'Hate Crime / Incident Reporting Form' via the Devon and Cornwall police website.
- visit your local police station or contact your local policing team.
If you are seeking information or reporting an incident on behalf of a friend or member of the family whose first language is not English please let the police know and they will arrange for an interpreter to be present if appropriate.
If you are Deaf, Devon and Cornwall Police have access to SignLive which will enable them access to BSL interpreters.
To a third party who will report the incident to the police with your permission
National third party reporting
- True Vision
- Crime Stoppers
- Third party reporting centres
Support for Victims of Hate Crime
Victim Care Unit Devon and Cornwall
The Victim Care Unit is a team of staff who work with people who have experienced crime to try and get them the support they need. The Victim Care Unit is run by Devon and Cornwall Police and funded by the Police and Crime Commissioner.
The service aims to help individuals cope and recover from what has happened to them. The service is available whether or not a person's crime is being investigated by the police.
Telephone: 01392 475900
Textphone/Minicom Number: 18001 01392 475900
SMS/Text number: 67101 (for deaf, hard of hearing, speech impaired only)
True Vision
True Vision is a police-funded website designed to provide you with information and advice about Hate Crime.
You can also report Hate Crime online through the True Vision website.
Website: www.report-it.org.uk
Victim Support
Victim Support is an independent charity offering free, confidential, specialist services to help people affected by all types of crime and traumatic incidents - regardless of whether the crime has been reported to the police or when it occurred.
Telephone: 08 08 16 89 111 (free 24/7 support line)
Live chat: Start live chat