Article A Glass Half Full? Assessing Progress in the Policing of Hate Crime

Abstract The policing of hate crimes---acts motivated by prejudice or hate towards an individual’s ‘race’, religious identity, sexual orientation or disability---has formed a central feature of the post-Macpherson policing agenda. Research has shown that the historically strained relationship between the police and minority communities has affected police responses to hate crime and levels of confidence in the police amongst those most at risk of hate crime victimization. Correspondingly, addressing these problems through improved police policy and practice has been a priority during the past 10 years. Following an analysis of key difficulties associated with the policing of hate crime, this article urges a need for caution when drawing definitive conclusions about levels of progress post-Macpherson. It is suggested that some of the more problematic aspects of policing hate crime still present major challenges, and as such it is difficult to say with certainty whether the strategic prioritization of hate crime has fundamentally transformed the quality of operational responses