Home Secretary to Review ‘Non-Crime Hate Incidents’ and Focus on ‘Good Old-Fashioned Policing’

British Home Secretary Suella Braverman leaves Downing Street following the first cabinet meeting after Liz Truss took office as the new prime minister, in London, on Sept. 7, 2022. Carl Court/Getty Images

Home Secretary Suella Braverman told police chiefs that officers should not be facing “politically correct” distractions in order to ensure that priorities are focused on tackling crime, ”not debating genders on Twitter.”

In front of police bosses at the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) and Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APPC) annual conference in Westminster on Wednesday, Braverman called for a focus on “common sense policing.”

“The way to ensure public confidence in the police is to focus on getting the basics right,” she said.

“What I call ‘common sense policing.’ The kind of policing the law-abiding patriotic majority deserves and expects,” said Braverman.

“No politically correct distractions, just good old-fashioned policing—with a relentless focus on making our streets, homes, and transport networks safer,” she said.

Braverman said her team at the UK Home Office would also look closely at non-crime hate incidents (NCHIs).

British police encourage the public to report NCHIs, described as “any non-crime incident which is perceived by the victim or any other person to be motivated by hostility or prejudice,” on official hate crime sites.

“I have asked my officials to revisit the issue of non-crime hate incidents as a first step, as I want to be sure that we are allowing you to prioritise your time to deal with threats to people and their property,” she said.

She also praised chief constable Stephen Watson for taking Greater Manchester Police out of special measures.

“How did he do it? He put more bobbies on the beat, pursued every crime, made excellent use of stop and search, and insisted that officers were smartly turned out with polished boots. He rejects woke policing and embraced a back-to-basics approach. For me, that is excellence in policing,” said Braverman.

She also announced plans for the College of Policing to review entry routes for officers without a degree. She also said she would remove “red tape that gets in your way.”

In August, Harry Miller, who is a part of the organisations Fair Cop and The Bad Law Project, criticised the 2020 College of Policing policy of recruiting those with degrees.

“It’s definitely the dumbing up of the police. The College of Policing has set out to find people that have no common sense but who know how to follow the guidance,” he said.

“I have asked the college to build on their work by considering options for a new non-degree entry route, to deliver officers of the highest calibre, which will complement the existing framework. In the meantime, the current transitional non degree entry route will be kept open,” said Braverman.

“Our police force must be open to those who do not have a degree or want one,” she added.

Braverman urged police “to step up to your public duties in policing protests” on how they should deal with Just Stop Oil activists.

“Although most police officers do an excellent job, sadly, in recent months and years we have seen an erosion of confidence in the police to take action against the radicals, the road-blockers, the vandals, the militants, and the extremists,” she said.

“But we have also seen the police appear to lose confidence in themselves; in yourselves. In your authority, in your power. An institutional reluctance. This has to change,” she added.