A Big Brother Watch investigation revealed that 32 out of 46 police forces in England and Wales recorded over 6000 non hate crime incidents (NCHI) such as social media comments and petty rows in pubs just over the second half of the last year.
Jake Hurfurt, the NGO’s head of research and investigations said:
‘It is worrying that police forces across the country are still recording social media comments and schoolyard squabbles on law enforcement systems.
‘Police should record NCHIs only when there is strong evidence of hate and they must seek to protect rather than limit freedom of speech. Resources should be focused on the world of crime, rather than monitoring non-criminal transgressions.’