Hate crime strategy

2. Police Scotland Foreword

Policing has a major role in ensuring Scotland is a safe, secure and welcoming place for all.

Hate crime is one of the most insidious crimes. To target a person, a group or a community because of who they are, how they look, or how they choose to live their lives, goes against everything our society holds dear.

Its impact on a victim cannot be underestimated. It can decimate confidence and leave people feeling isolated. This can spread through their family and into the wider community, creating pockets of people who may feel unwelcome or rejected.

We know it can be hard for people to report a hate crime, and in some cases to even recognise or acknowledge that they have been a victim.

This is an issue that also affects our officers and staff with around one in four reported hate crimes in Scotland targeted at a police officer.

We want everyone targeted by hate crime or who witnesses it to have confidence to come forward, with the assurance that they will be treated with respect and the circumstances investigated professionally.

That's why we are driving action under our Policing Together initiative to build a Service where everyone is able to thrive and flourish knowing they are valued for their true and authentic selves and which better reflects and represents all our communities.

Providing everyone with a fair, just and effective policing response is not only an operational requirement but also our moral responsibility and legal duty.

We are working hard to play our part in the implementation of the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act, which will increase our ability to bring perpetrators to justice.

At the same time, we are driving progress in how we record and manage information so that we build deeper knowledge and understanding of trends in hate crime and the impact it has on communities.

This crucial work is supported by proactive communications campaigns that have sought to help people identify and report hate crime and, in future, will challenge people to reflect on their own behaviours and attitudes to stop hate crime before it happens.

We are committed to continually listening to the communities we serve and taking action to constantly improve our response to hate crime.

Everyone has a right to live safely and happily as their true and authentic selves, without fear of prejudice. No one should suffer in silence or deal with the impact of hate crime alone.

Gary Ritchie Assistant
Chief Constable