Police told to avoid ‘toxic public debate around hate crime’ by senior officer

Police have been told to avoid ‘toxic public debate around hate crime’ by a senior officer.

Rob Hay, president of the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents, will warn that policing should not be drawn into the current “toxic public debate around hate crime” in his keynote speech at its conference on Tuesday.

Hay will say officers must not be drawn into ‘”petty point scoring currently filling much of the public debate” and that attempts to “weaponise” hate crime is diverting stretched police resources from those who actually need them.

He will also highlight that Police Scotland is now ‘woefully under-resourced’, with the lowest officer numbers in 16 years.

The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act came into effect on April 1 and more than 7,000 complaints were made online in the first week.

The Act consolidates existing hate crime legislation and creates a new stirring-up offence for some protected characteristics but critics have suggested it could have a chilling effect on free speech.

The Association of Scottish Police Superintendents Centenary Conference will discuss challenges faced by the forces and how they will be dealt with over the next five years. It will be held at the Peebles Hydro.

Around 100 delegates representing senior roles in Scottish policing will also be present, with representatives from across the wider UK also in attendance.

Speakers at this include leading figures from the Superintendents’ Associations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the Scottish Police Federation, and HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland Craig Naylor.

The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.