Police pin hopes on ‘rainbow cars’ to drive out hate crime
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Police pin hopes on ‘rainbow cars’ to drive out hate crime
Forces across the UK add a splash of colour to their fleet to encourage people to report racist, homophobic and transphobic incidents
By Hayley Dixon, Special Correspondent 22 August 2021 • 3:37pm
Critics argue police should not waste money on repainting cars and instead focus more on ‘real’ crimes, such as rape and knife crime Credit: Avpics/Alamy Stock Photo
Police are replacing patrol cars with “hate crime cars” to encourage people to report incidents such as social media comments.
Deputy Chief Constable Julie Cooke said that the cars painted with the police insignia and rainbow designs are now “part of our vehicle fleet” and will be driven daily by officers on patrol.
However, critics have said that forces should instead focus on policing “real” issues such as knife crime and rape, with the latest figures showing
poor prosecution rates.
Ms Cooke, the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s (NPCC) lead on LGBT issues, released a video on its Instagram account explaining why police have rainbow vehicles.
Describing them as “hate crime cars”, she said that forces are “always replacing vehicles” and they get the police insignia and “there will normally be then something added on that is to do with the rainbow side of things”.
A spokesman for the NPCC said that they did not have figures on how many had been painted as forces operate independently and it is up to individual forces how many cars they want to convert.
Ms Cooke, who works at Cheshire Police, added that the “cars are there in the communities on normal policing patrol just to show the community that we want you to come forward... It is there to try and give confidence to our LGBT+ community, but also to other under-represented groups”.
She said that the “cost is quite minimal”, but the impact is “huge”.
The number of
hate crimes reported to police have more than doubled in recent years, with allegations of transgender hate crime seeing the sharpest rise.
However, cash-strapped forces across the country have faced criticism for
focusing on the allegations, a large number of which stem from social media comments.
Even where a crime has not been committed, police record the allegation as a “hate incident”, which could show up on a person’s criminal record checks.
‘From policing crime to policing thoughts’
Harry Miller, a former police officer and founder of campaign group Fair Cop, said: “We don’t see the Met with special cars for knife crime, even though the number of stabbings in London is appalling.
“The problem is that the second that you see a rainbow car, you know that it is a police force that has made its mind up about some very contentious issues. You no longer see a police car or a police officer who is there to support everyone, from all political persuasions, without fear or favour.
“They have literally tied their colours to the mast and painted their cars with their political leanings. They are painting rainbows on their cars when we have figures showing that only seven per cent of violent crime ends in a prosecution.
“They have moved from policing crime to policing thoughts and speech, because it is easier.”
Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton, who leads on hate crime for the NPCC, said that responses to hate crime was a key priority after the inquiry into the murder of
Stephen Lawrence, and they have a legal duty to protect victims under the Human Rights and Equalities Acts.
“Tackling hate crime is a priority for policing, however this does not detract from the service to victims of other crime types and anyone who has been a victim of crime should report it to the police,” he said.
“Early interventions, such as responding to hate crime, is also one of the most effective actions to reduce the escalation of violent crime and community tensions.
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