MPS interaction/enagement with faith communities, organisations or denominations

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.023463

I note you seek access to the following information:

1. Has the Metropolitan Police Service interacted or engaged with any faith communities, organisations or denominations in relation to preaching and teaching in situations where the subject matter may potentially engage the criminal law?
2. If such engagement or interaction has happened, what was the outcome?
3. If no such engagement or interaction has taken place, is there any intention on the part of the Metropolitan Police Service to progress such matters?
4. Does the Metropolitan Police Service have specific policy or recommended best practice in dealing with issues where religion or faith may be perceived to intersect with the criminal law?
5. What is the threshold used by operational and investigating officers in determining whether or not a verbal exchange ought to be classified as a hate crime rather than the exercise of free speech?
6. What training do officers and staff receive in navigating the territory covered by human rights, religion and criminal justice?

By criminal justice, I mean that aspect of the criminal justice process for which the police are responsible. For example, when a complaint is made, generally an officer will attend, determine the circumstances, potentially effect an arrest, conduct and interview/investigation and report the matter for disposal (with a variety of potential outcomes being possible).

My question is focussing on the detail of police interactions with people of faith where they are the subjects of investigation. Over the past number of years, some street preachers have been arrested throughout the UK and, to the best of my knowledge, the arrests have been declared unlawful and compensation payments have been made. It is within such circumstances or contexts, that I am seeking information on police policy and practice.

In crafting your response, please note that I am aware of the College of Policing APP as it relates to the investigation of hate crime and I am also aware that the College has yet to respond to the Court of Appeal verdict relating to the content and application of that policy. As stated above, my specific focus is on police interaction with faith communities and individuals from those communities. To my mind, experience to date may indicate a systemic difficulty and my enquiry is seeking to establish if this has been identified as an issue that requires policy formulation and practical training. Enquiries with the National Police Chiefs' Council have indicated that none of the business leads has taken such a matter forward and their response advised interaction with the individual forces throughout the UK. Thus, my direct enquiry!

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Questions 1 and 4 -

Q1 - Has the Metropolitan Police Service interacted or engaged with any faith communities, organisations or denominations in relation to preaching and teaching in situations where the subject matter may potentially engage the criminal law?
Q4 - Does the Metropolitan Police Service have specific policy or recommended best practice in dealing with issues where religion or faith may be perceived to intersect with the criminal law?

Do we interact with faith communities?

Yes we have Faith officers in all our Basic Command Units (BCU’s) that work closely with issues affecting London’s faith communities, they provide support for frontline officers around cultural issues and raising awareness of different faiths. Our central engagement team run forums with several different faith communities, such as the London Muslim Community Forum, Jewish Community Forum and Sikh Forum to name a few. They work with us and provide operational/strategic advice when needed and give the community a platform to raise their concerns that may specifically affect them, such as Hate crime.

In addition, people of many faiths, and of no faith, sit on our Independent Advisory Groups and forums, offering advice on many areas of policing including areas not necessarily directly linked to their faith.

Do we provide training or follow specific policy where faith matters potentially indicate breaches of criminal law or potentially intersect with it?

We do not have a specific policy, nor would we routinely provide training in this area, and to date it had not been a direct request. This is where the faith officers come in, they would be the point of contact for the BCU’s around any potential breach of criminal law. We also have a Harmful Practices unit which advise/investigate matters that might fall under the Faith category.

Q2 - If such engagement or interaction has happened, what was the outcome?

The engagement with faith communities remains in place and depending on the circumstances of the incident, outcomes vary. Our faith advisors are highly valued and part of our commitment to ensuring the voices of all shape our policing service.

Q3 - If no such engagement or interaction has taken place, is there any intention on the part of the Metropolitan Police Service to progress such matters?

N/A.

Q5 - What is the threshold used by operational and investigating officers in determining whether or not a verbal exchange ought to be classified as a hate crime rather than the exercise of free speech?

There is no specific offence of ‘hate crime’ but many different offences, from assault to online threats, can become one. If the offence is perceived by a victim or witness to have been motivated by hostility towards the victim’s disability, race, religion, sexual orientation or transgender identity, it can be recorded as a hate crime.

Police officers and staff, in line with national guidance from the College of Policing, use the following definition to determine whether or not an incident is a hate crime.

A hate crime is any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice based on:

• a person’s race or perceived race, or any racial group or ethnic background including countries within the UK and Gypsy and Traveller groups
• a person’s religion or perceived religion, or any religious group including those who have no faith
• a person’s sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation, or any person’s sexual orientation
• a person’s disability or perceived disability, or any disability including physical disability, learning disability and mental health or developmental disorders
• a person who is transgender or perceived to be transgender, including people who are transsexual, transgender, cross dressers and those who hold a Gender Recognition Certificate under the Gender Recognition Act 2004

There is no legal definition of ‘hostility’ so police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) use the everyday understanding of the word which includes ill-will, spite, contempt, prejudice, unfriendliness, antagonism, resentment and dislike. Note that this definition applies to whether an offence should be considered a hate crime, but not to whether a crime was committed in the first place.

As with any case passed to the CPS by police, they will only charge where there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction and where it is in the public interest to do so.

When it comes to online offences, in order to strike a balance with freedom of speech, there is a high evidential threshold to prosecute grossly offensive, indecent, obscene or false communications.

Legal guidance given to CPS prosecutors on online communications recognises the potential impact of prosecutions on free speech. The guidance recognises that not only is speech which is well-received and popular protected, but also speech which is offensive, shocking or disturbing.

The guidance states that freedom of expression can only be restricted under very limited circumstances and prosecutions may only be undertaken when they are proven to be ‘necessary’ and ‘proportionate’.

Q6 - What training do officers and staff receive in navigating the territory covered by human rights, religion and criminal justice?

Please find attached the Aims and Learning Outcomes for related lessons.