A police force has recorded over 1,500 non-crime incidents in the span of two years, though failed to answer non-emergency calls in a “swift” manner during the same period.
Essex Police, the force investigating a journalist for allegedly inciting racial hatred, have logged 702 non-crime hate incidents between June 2023 and June 2024.
And the year prior, 834 incidents were recorded, according to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests obtained by The Times.
In one case, a shopkeeper “suspect” was recorded on the force’s hate incident database after he refused to let someone into his shop because they had a guide dog with them.
Essex Police have logged 702 non-crime hate incidents between June 2023 and June 2024
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In another instance, a complaint was logged when an individual said that their bank was being difficult with them because of their “skin colour and height”.
In a separate police watchdog inspection, it was discovered that the force fails to “promptly resolve non-emergency calls”.
The investigation found that the slow response time could “contribute to a loss of confidence in the service”.
Essex Police has come under hot water after they sent officers to journalist Allison Pearon’s house on Remembrance Sunday over “an incident or offence of potentially inciting racial hatred online” in regards to a social media post she made a year ago.
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The officers told her that they could not disclose what the specific post was referring to, however, she was posting regularly about the October 7 attacks on Israel around this time.
Essex Police said officers had opened an investigation under section 17 of the Public Order Act 1986 relating to material allegedly “likely or intended to cause racial hatred”.
On Friday, it emerged that the force had set up a gold group – usually reserved for major incidents like terror attacks – to handle the investigation.
The purpose of gold groups is to ensure the “effectiveness of ongoing police response”, and they are usually led by assistant chief constables or higher.
Councillor Neil Gregory, a substitute member of the Essex Police, Fire and Crime Panel, accused Essex Police of “institutional incompetence and dysfunction on an epic scale”.
He told The Telegraph: “It is certainly the impression I get that they are prioritising diversity over real crime.
“Sadly the appalling treatment of Allison is merely the tip of the iceberg of an obsession with diversity, neglect of crime and institutional incompetence and dysfunction on an epic scale.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper wants to change the requirement for police officers to record non-criminal hate incidents
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Alongside his scathing remarks, Essex Police has come under significant scrutiny from leading politicians.
Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Robert Jenrick, Nigel Farage, Suella Braverman, Richard Tice and Chris Philp have been among those who have spoken out in defence of the Telegraph writer.
Elon Musk, X owner, also used Pearson’s case to level criticism at the state of policing in the UK – following his continued attacks on Labour’s response to the summer riots earlier this year.
Yvette Cooper wants to change the requirement for police officers to record non-criminal hate incidents.
The Home Secretary is understood to be considering a new “zero-tolerance” approach, which would see police officers encouraged to record more non-criminal hate incidents.
The move would be a reversal of changes to the laws brought in last year by the Tories, who issued new guidance that ordered the force to stop recording incidents just because someone was offended.
It follows concerns that the new guidance is stopping officers from monitoring and identifying threats to Jewish and Muslim communities that could result in violence.
GB News has approached Essex Police for comment.
