Police force records 1,500 non-crime hate incidents in just two years...but fails to answer non-emergency calls

A police force investigating a journalist for allegedly inciting racial hatred have recorded 1,500 non-crime hate incidents in just two years while failing to answer non-emergency calls 'swiftly enough'.

According to The Times, a freedom of information response revealed that Essex Police logged 702 non-crime hate incidents between June 2023 and June 2024 and 834 in the 12 months before that.

But a separate police watchdog inspection also found that the force 'doesn't promptly resolve non-emergency calls', which could 'contribute to a loss of confidence in the service'.

One of the 'suspects' recorded on the force's hate incident database was a shopkeeper who refused a person entry to his shop because they had a guide dog with them.

Another complaint was logged when a civilian said they felt their bank was being difficult with them due to their 'skin colour and height'.

It comes as Essex Police faces criticism for investigating Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson over a tweet that was posted, and then quickly deleted, last year.

The force has been condemned for its actions by critics including former prime minister Boris Johnson who have questioned whether investigating hundreds of non-crime hate incidents is worthy of officers' time.

Ms Pearson said the police arrived at her door on Remembrance Sunday and told her they were investigating a 'non-crime hate incident'. However, Essex Police dispute this and said the officers were clear the alleged offence was inciting racial hatred.

The Times also revealed last week that UK police forces had recorded more than 13,000 non-crime hate incidents in the past 12 months, including against schoolchildren, vicars and doctors.

Former officer Harry Miller claimed 'the system is broken' and stressed that non-crime hate incidents were 'only supposed to be recorded as a form of intelligence in order to prevent future crime'.

Another non-crime hate incident recorded between April and June this year in Essex saw a suspect allegedly mimicked a victim speaking Arabic.

In a separate incident, an unnamed suspect wrote a tweet on X 'which the victim has found deeply offensive and feels that it is a racist hate crime'.

However, officers say Pearson's tweet is being treated as an alleged criminal offence of inciting racial hatred, rather than a non-crime hate incident.

Responding to the statistics, an Essex Police spokesman said: 'Our work has seen crime fall in Essex, with 9,300 fewer recorded crimes in the last year and 20,000 fewer than five years ago.

'We also know we have the support of our community, with 77 per cent of people in Essex saying they think we do a good or excellent job.

'If someone reports an incident perceived to be motivated by hate or hostility, it will be recorded in accordance with the national standards and process as set out by the College of Policing.

'With every report of this kind made to us, we must consider future risks of significant harm set against freedom of speech and act upon — and record — incidents proportionately and appropriately.'

In a separate report carried out by HM Inspectorate of Constabularies, it was found that Essex Police 'doesn't promptly resolve non-emergency calls' on the 101 line, which is typically used to report crimes like theft and damage to property'.

According to the watchdog, the force had a 15 per cent abandonment rate among callers to the line, which was three times the 5 per cent national standard.

On Sunday, Roger Hirst, the police, fire and crime commissioner for Essex defended the county's force in the face of a backlash over the treatment of Ms Pearson.

The columnist revealed that officers from the force knocked on her door earlier this month to inform her of the probe.

Ms Pearson has since insisted in a ten-point post on X that she was not 'racist' and that she 'did not post a racist tweet'.

Speaking about the investigation on radio station LBC, Mr Hirst said: 'You know, I think - I'm not sure that commenting on a live police inquiry is the thing, but this is clearly a hot topic. It's something that we do need to clear up.

'There was a very real debate here around particularly I think, the non crime hate incidents and are they taking police time? Actually not directly relevant to the case in hand, but quite a big issue in Essex.

'Last year the police looked at over 700 non crime hate incidents. Is that necessarily a good use of time?'

Mr Hirst insisted that Essex Police was doing well on 'building relationships with all of the communities, whether they be Muslim, Jewish, pro-Palestine, pro-Gazan, whatever it may be or many, many more than that'.

'We have that in Essex - that's the focus, no on recording incidents which may or may not be trivial', he added.

Among those lambasting Essex Police for their probe into Ms Pearson was ex-PM Mr Johnson, who wrote in a post on X: 'This is appalling. How can Starmer's Britain lecture other countries about free speech when an innocent journalist gets a knock on the door - for a tweet?

'Our police have their hands full of burglaries and violent crime. They are being forced to behave like a woke Securitate - and it has to stop.

Kemi Badenoch, the new Conservative Party leader, has also backed the Telegraph columnist, saying that police visiting her home was 'absolutely wrong'.

'There has been a long-running problem with people not taking free speech seriously,' Mrs Badenoch told The Telegraph.

She added: 'We shouldn't have journalists getting visited by the police for expressing opinions. That's absolutely wrong, we need to look at the laws around non-crime hate incidents.'

'Keir Starmer says he is someone who believes in these things. Now he needs to actually show that he does believe it. All we've seen from him is the opposite.'

The force has previously said that officers went to an address last Sunday to invite Ms Pearson to attend a voluntary interview as part of their investigation.

A spokesman said: 'We're investigating a report which was passed to us by another force.

'The report relates to a social media post which was subsequently removed. An investigation is now being carried out under Section 17 of the Public Order Act.'

The Guardian has claimed to have uncovered the post at the centre of the row, despite Ms Pearson saying she was unable to recall the exact tweet.

The newspaper alleged that it was a message sent last November, seemingly branding supporters of Imran Khan's political party in Pakistan as 'Jew haters' without evidence - and accusing the Met Police of complicity for posing for a photo with them.

The post was a comment on a group of people posing with a green and maroon flag used by supporters of the party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) flanked by police officers.

At the time, Ms Pearson allegedly said: 'How dare they. Invited to pose for a photo with lovely peaceful British Friends of Israel on Saturday police refused. Look at this lot smiling with the Jew haters.'

But the picture is from Manchester, meaning the officers do not belong to the Met Police. It is thought there was potentially some confusion between the PTI supporters and those who advocate for Hamas terrorists in the war with Israel.

The complainant, who is not Muslim nor one of the people in the photo, told the Guardian: 'Pearson tweeted something that had nothing to do with Palestine or the London protest. Her description of the two people of colour as Jew haters is racist and inflammatory.

'I was concerned about the tweet that Pearson put out last year so much so that I reported it to the police. She could have tweeted an apology stating she was wrong. She didn't.'

Ms Pearson said she was told the investigation was about a post on social media platform X, and that officers were unable to give her details of the post in question or identify her accuser due to laws governing procedure.

She added: 'This was the most extraordinary overreach and state intrusion into my private life and I don't think I did anything wrong and I think their response was outrageous.'

She said she had no recollection of what she posted but that if it was a year ago, it could have been linked to the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel or pro-Palestine marches shortly afterwards.