Hate crime: availability of information recorded by the police in Scotland

4. Further information on the recording of hate crime

Several of the existing sources of data on hate crime in Scotland focus on those cases which have been reported to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS). As the IVPD can be used to produce summary information on the total volume of hate crime dealt with by the police (including those crimes that were not reported to COPFS) it has widened the available evidence base on hate crime in Scotland.

Beyond the indicative analysis presented in this report, the IVPD includes further information on the nature of each hate crime the police deal with. For example, this includes the specific ethnic group, religion etc. that the perpetrator showed malice and ill-will towards, and some demographic information on both those being targeted and the perpetrators (such as age and gender). This also extends to incidents that may have been hate-related, but did not constitute a criminal offence.

The IVPD's primary role is to support the day-to-day operational procedures of Police Scotland. As such, the current functionality of the database can place a limit on some of the types of analysis that could be carried out (for example information on those targeted during a hate crime cannot at present be separated from those reporting it, where these are different individuals).

Furthermore, prior to any dissemination of a wider range of data collected within the IVPD, Police Scotland have been reviewing the process used by officers to enter this information into the database. This is with the aim of ensuring that should more detailed analysis on the nature of hate crime be regularly drawn from the IVPD, users can be assured of its quality.

As part of this work Police Scotland have created a training programme for staff across the organisation to become Hate Crime Champions (HCCs). This is being done to heighten awareness of hate crime and help address the impact it has on Scotland's communities. HCCs will also ensure that the correct recording methods are used within the IVPD, increasing the value of the associated information for stakeholders.

As noted in Section 3, there is also a recognised issue concerning the under-reporting of hate crime. To help tackle this, the Scottish Government published its Tackling Prejudice and Building Connected Communities Action Plan in June 2017^[22] to tackle hate crime and build community cohesion. An Action Group chaired by the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government has been established to take this work forward and includes representation from Police Scotland, COPFS, equalities organisations, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and Education Scotland.

Police Scotland are taking forward other steps to raise public awareness and encourage reporting. This includes:

• Reviewing their online reporting form to make it easier for communities to report hate crime online and reviewing the effectiveness of Third Party Reporting Centres.
• Carrying out an annual hate crime campaign to highlight what hate crime looks like across communities in Scotland and to heighten awareness of how such behaviour has a negative impact on people's lives, and
• Holding an annual hate crime conference to allow partners involved in eradicating hate crime to come together to share best practice and discuss how to work collectively on this issue, while heightening public awareness of what hate crime looks like in a modern society.

With the provision of more detailed analysis on the characteristics of police recorded hate crime (in tandem with the actions described above to encourage the reporting of hate crime), the contribution of the IVPD could be even higher in future. Scottish Government statisticians will continue to engage with Police Scotland as they take this work forward, and will inform users through the SCOTSTAT network^[23] of any new developments regarding the availability of hate crime information.

If you have any feedback on the content of this report please contact us at JusticeAnalysts@gov.scot.