By Transform Justice

Hate crime is a growing problem in England and Wales, highlighted by the Home Office’s Annual Statistical Bulletin which reported 155,841 hate crimes recorded by police in the year ending March 2022, this is a 26% increase compared to 2020-21.1 This reflects a year-on-year rise since 2013 and demonstrates the need to use new interventions to drive real behaviour change in offenders. However, it should be noted that an increase in public awareness of hate crime alongside improved police recording means that it can be difficult to definitively determine the cause of the increase, but rather a number of factors leading to this. Out of Court Disposals2 (OOCDs) are a method of resolution for an offence, designed to reduce re-offending by enabling restorative justice and giving offenders an opportunity to take responsibility for their behaviour through education, before they find themselves in the formal Criminal Justice System (CJS). They also offer victims a chance to see some resolution to their case even if they do not wish for it to be dealt with in a formal setting. There are a number of different forms an OOCD can take, however all may only be considered in situations where the offender is known and admits guilt of their offence. They are typically used in cases where the offending is deemed to be lower-level. In 2022, the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) published its Out of Court Disposals (Resolutions) National Strategy.3 This strategy highlighted that the CJS cannot address vulnerability solely through prosecution. Instead, a sophisticated, whole-system approach is needed to give policing the capacity to make professional decisions and access a range of services in partnership such as early intervention pathways, OOCDs and where necessary, prosecution. Over the past nine years, there has been a growing evidence base that, for acquisitive and violent crime, early intervention (such as Turning Point4, CARA5 and Checkpoint6) as part of a conditional caution can reduce reoffending. However, the evidence is minimal with regards to hate crime interventions as its application is limited through the OOCD framework. In 2014, three police forces (West Yorkshire, Staffordshire and Leicestershire) were given dispensation to use OOCDs for hate crime during a tri-force pilot of a simplified two-tier framework, designed to be easier for practitioners to implement and the public to understand.7 However, there was no specific rehabilitative intervention commissioned and the total number of offenders given OOCDs were low in all three forces, particularly for hate crime which only represented 1% of the total offences. This meant that it was not possible to draw statistically robust conclusions around reoffending rates. Existing interventions for hate crime tend to be targeted at more serious offenders, carried out post-conviction on a one to one basis and last for several months. Since the start of the 2014 pilot, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has adjusted its guidance to allow for the use of OOCDs in relation to hate crime and domestic abuse8, however statutory guidance states that issuing a conditional caution is “unlikely to be appropriate where the offence forms part of a pattern of offending”.9 A tri-force OOCD hate crime pilot with Avon and Somerset Police (A&S Police), West Midlands Police (WMP), and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary (HIOWC) was established in June 2021. All three police forces were given dispensation from the DPP to use conditional cautions for hate crime providing prescribed pre conditions (see Appendix 1) were met. RISE Mutual CIC10, a social enterprise which specialises in offender rehabilitative interventions, were commissioned via a procurement process to deliver a four session group intervention programme formerly known as Rise Against Hate, (from April 2023 this is now known as Perspective), for those who met the DPP OOCD hate crime criteria. It was envisaged that a high proportion of suitable offences for the proposed pilot would be of a public order nature, or involve minor assaults accompanied by the use of racist language towards figures of authority (police officers, door staff, store detectives) or individuals providing a service (ambulance crew, taxi drivers). These were deemed to be the most likely cases, where the victim often does not see the offence as serious enough to take the time to attend court, but at the same time, a meaningful sanction is desirable to protect victims who are providing a community service. Aims and objectives Aim: to develop and deliver a rehabilitative early intervention course specific to hate crime, commissioned by the three named forces (A&S Police, HIOWC and WMP) and offered at no cost to the offender. Objectives:  To increase the evidence base in the use of disposals in cases of hate crime  To increase victim satisfaction in hate crime outcomes  To reduce reoffending rates of hate crime  To better understand the demand profile for hate crime intervention and the processes surrounding this

London: Transform Justice, 2023.

By Victoria Guillén-Nieto

Hate speech creates environments that are conducive to hate crimes and broad-scale conflict. This book discusses the mechanics of hate speech and its expression from a linguistic perspective. The author addresses the challenges that legal practitioners and linguists meet when dealing with hate speech, especially with the advent of social media, and offers the reader a comprehensive linguistic approach to the legal problem of hate speech.

Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, 2023. 190p.

By Mark Pitcavage

The Aryan Circle is a large, growing and dangerous white supremacist gang based primarily in Texas. Active in prisons and on the streets, it has a long track record of murder, including the deaths of two police officers in Bastrop, Louisiana, in 2007. • The Aryan Circle originated in the Texas prison system in the mid-1980s and is now the second largest white supremacist gang in Texas. • The Aryan Circle has four segments: its Texas prison population, its federal prison population, its out-of-state prison population, and its non-incarcerated population. Total membership is probably over 1,400, making it one of the largest white supremacist groups in the United States. The most disturbing trend is the growth in its free-world membership. • The Aryan Circle is headed by an elected president and run by senior members. Billy “Thumper” Haynes was elected the Circle’s new president in 2008, but many Circle members fought the choice. In mid-2009, he was replaced by Greg “Droopy” Freeman. • The Aryan Circle recruits in prisons and on the streets. Members tend to come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds; many members work in the oil industry. The Aryan Circle is unusual in that women can become members. Some women have achieved positions of considerable responsibility, but sexism makes it difficult for them to rise to the highest ranks. • The original “homegrown” white supremacy of the Aryan Circle has become more sophisticated. However, many Circle members still have only a crude understanding of white supremacist ideology. The Circle uses white supremacy to increase group solidarity. • The Aryan Circle has few relationships with “traditional” white supremacist groups. Its relations with other prison gangs are often violent; the Aryan Circle has been involved in a number of prison gang wars. • The Aryan Circle not only deals drugs; many members abuse drugs, especially methamphetamine. Efforts by Circle leaders to combat drug use by members have failed. A new effort started in 2008 faces serious hurdles. • Much of the Aryan Circle’s criminal activities are profit-driven. Inside prisons, the smuggling of contraband (particularly drugs and tobacco) is the most important endeavor. Outside prison walls, Circle members engage in drug trafficking and a variety of theft and robbery rings. • Organized violence is also a feature of Aryan Circle activity, including killing suspected informants and engaging in violence against rival gangs. Aryan Circle members have also committed hate crimes, in and out of prisons.

New York: Anti-Defamation League, 2009. 37p.

By The Anti-Defamation League, Center on Extremism

A report from the ADL Center on Extremism explores how white supremacists in the United States have experienced a resurgence in the past three years, driven in large part by the rise of the alt right. The alt right is the newest segment of the white supremacist movement, bringing new energy and activism to the movement’s racism and anti-Semitism.

The ADL Center on Extremism (COE) is one of the world’s foremost authorities on extremism, terrorism, anti-Semitism and all forms of hate. For decades, COE’s staff of seasoned investigators analysts and researchers have tracked extremist activity and hate in the U.S. and abroad -- online and on the ground.

New York: ADL, 2018. 72p.