Police in the United Kingdom introduced rainbow-colored patrol cars in an attempt to encourage citizens to report more “hate incidents.”
🌈 NEW: Police are replacing patrol cars with “hate crime cars” to encourage people to report incidents such as social media comments https://t.co/9ag5pNx17j
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) August 22, 2021
“The rainbow cars, the hate crime cars, whatever we want to call them, they are part of our vehicle fleet,” says Deputy Chief Constable Julie Cooke in a posting on Instagram. (RELATED: EU Vows To Punish Hungary For Banning LGBT Content Targeting Children)
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“If something is happening that you know isn’t right, then we absolutely want you to come forward. It is there to try and give confidence to our LGBT+ community, but also to other underrepresented groups” she continued.
Reports of hate crimes have more than doubled in the UK in recent years, according to The Telegraph. During the same time, violent crime has also surged in the country. Stabbings have seen a dramatic rise, coupled with a drop in police budgets and overall number of police officers, according to The Independent.
“They are painting rainbows on their cars when we have figures showing that only 7% of violent crime ends in prosecution. They have moved from policing crime to policing thoughts and speech because it is easier,” Harry Miller, a former UK police officer, said.
Many of the reports of hate crimes have come from individuals being targeted in social media postings. In incidents where no crime has been committed, a record of the allegation is kept as a “hate incident.” These “incidents” will still show up on certain criminal background checks, despite no crimes having been committed.