North Wales Police logged more than 2,800 non-crime hate incidents over two decades as government scraps system
North Wales Police recorded more than 2,800 non-crime hate incidents over two decades under a system the government has today abolished, Freedom of Information data shows.
The Home Office announced yesterday that non-crime hate incidents, known as NCHIs, will be scrapped following a review by the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council. The government said it would accept all the review’s recommendations and replace the existing framework with a narrower system more closely tied to core police work.
The change ends the existing NCHI system, which the government said had led forces to log reports that went beyond their core duties, including personal disputes and lawful speech.
Among the incidents logged by North Wales Police were reports made via social media platforms and online messaging, including cases where no offence was subsequently identified
What the data shows
FOI responses released by North Wales Police show the force recorded its first NCHI in 2003. Numbers remained low until 2012, when they rose sharply to 129. The figure peaked at 306 in 2016 before falling back. In 2023 the force recorded 160 incidents. In 2024 the figure was 153. By June 2025, the force had recorded 88 in the first half of the year alone.
Across the period from 2003 to mid-2025, North Wales Police recorded a total of more than 2,800 non-crime hate incidents. No data was provided for 2004, and the 2025 figure covers only the first half of the year, meaning the true cumulative total is higher than the FOI data confirms.
The most common category throughout was racial prejudice. In 2022 the force recorded 130 incidents in total, with 75 flagged as racial. In 2023 the figure for racial incidents was 87 out of 160. In 2024, 78 of 142 incidents carried a racial prejudice flag.
What officers were being called to
Social media and online communication featured regularly in the log. Several entries record incidents where the initial report was made via platforms including Instagram and Facebook, or where the person contacted the police control room directly to report online comments. In some entries no offence was identified. One records a male contacting the control room and making hate-related comments to the call handler, with the log noting no offences were disclosed. Another describes an Instagram message sent to a named individual regarding their sexual orientation.
An FOI response covering the period from June 2023 to June 2024 included a log of individual NCHIs recorded by North Wales Police. The summaries, released in redacted form without individual names or addresses, show the range of incidents officers were responding to and logging under the system.
Some entries describe serious reports: racially aggravated threats, online abuse targeting protected characteristics, and incidents where a hate crime was subsequently identified. One entry records a report of a motorcycle gang displaying swastika symbols. Another describes a youth daubing a racial slur in chalk in a public place.
Others are more routine. One entry describes a caller reporting that neighbours’ children had drawn chalk on the pavement outside her home and on her car, with the caller believing she was targeted because she was not from the UK. Officers attended and noted the entire street had been chalked, not just outside the caller’s property. It was nonetheless logged as an NCHI.
A separate entry records a man who believed he had been refused service in a pub because he was English. Officers spoke to him the following day; he did not wish to pursue the matter. Bar staff said he had been refused service for being intoxicated. The incident was recorded.
Another log entry describes a fence dispute between neighbours in which one party perceived racial motivation, with no hate-related language recorded as having been used during the argument.
Training and oversight
An FOI response from March 2026 confirmed that North Wales Police provides NCHI training to new recruits as part of initial training, lasting approximately three hours. The Force Crime Registrar provides inputs to support sergeants, who have monthly oversight of all NCHIs recorded across their area.
The force said it carries out annual audits of NCHIs and that monthly sergeant reviews “are effectively gatekeeping the NCHI process and code.”
As recently as October 2025, North Wales Police confirmed in a separate FOI response that it held no information about any consideration of reviewing or changing its approach to NCHIs. At that point the force said it was complying with national standards and recording all incidents.
The government’s position
Announcing the changes yesterday Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “Under these reforms, forces will no longer be policing perfectly legal tweets. Instead, they will be doing what they do best: patrolling our streets, catching criminals and keeping communities safe.”
The government said the national standard governing how police record incidents had not been updated since 2011 and was too broad. An amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill has already revoked the statutory code of practice that underpinned the NCHI system.
The new framework will not issue crime reference numbers for incidents that meet the revised lower threshold, and will not use criminal terminology such as “suspect” and “victim.” Police will still be able to monitor serious community tensions and protect individuals at risk.
The Home Office said it would work with policing partners to put the recommendations into effect immediately.
North Wales Police: NCHI data 2003 to 2025
The following figures are drawn from Freedom of Information responses provided by North Wales Police. No data was provided for 2004. The 2025 figure covers January to June only.
| Year | All occurrences |
|---|---|
| 2003 | 1 |
| 2004 | No data held |
| 2005 | 9 |
| 2006 | 55 |
| 2007 | 70 |
| 2008 | 74 |
| 2009 | 49 |
| 2010 | 32 |
| 2011 | 72 |
| 2012 | 129 |
| 2013 | 198 |
| 2014 | 204 |
| 2015 | 235 |
| 2016 | 306 |
| 2017 | 288 |
| 2018 | 166 |
| 2019 | 103 |
| 2020 | 133 |
| 2021 | 146 |
| 2022 | 130 |
| 2023 | 160 |
| 2024 | 153 |
| 2025 (to June) | 88 |
| Total (excl. 2004) | 2,801 |
Breakdown by category, 2022 to 2024
The sum of individual categories may exceed the total number of incidents because multiple flags can be recorded against a single occurrence.
| Year | Total | Racial | Disability | Religion | Transgender | Sexual orientation | Gender | Alt sub-culture |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 130 | 75 | 31 | 7 | 3 | 16 | 1 | 1 |
| 2023 | 160 | 87 | 27 | 11 | 6 | 31 | 2 | 1 |
| 2024 | 142 | 78 | 23 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 7 | 1 |
North Wales Police examples of non-crime hate incidents recorded likely via social media and online communications, June 2023 to June 2024
The below entries cover the twelve months from June 2023 to June 2024 and are drawn from North Wales Police’s published FOI disclosure log. They include reports made via Instagram, Facebook, and unnamed social media platforms, as well as calls made directly to the force control room where no offence was subsequently identified. The categories range from racial and religious abuse to transphobic and homophobic comments posted online. Some entries were later reclassified as recordable offences once officers assessed the circumstances. Others remained logged solely as non-crime incidents. The log does not record outcomes, so it is not possible to say from the published data alone how many of the 22 entries led to further police action.
| Category flagged | Summary |
|---|---|
| Racial | Caller reporting concerns for her son who she says has posted videos online which she believes may be of a hate related nature |
| Racial | The suspect has telephoned the IP and been abusive over a delivery. He made hate related comments about the IP being Turkish and threatened to attend and cause damage |
| Racial | Two suspects have racially abused the IP via a social media messenger |
| Disability | IP reported that owner of taxi firm has posted on social media relating to a review made by the IP and has revealed personal information relating to the IP including his disability |
| Racial | They were on a call and mother heard the other child call her daughter a racial slur |
| Sexual orientation | Male has contacted the control room making hate related comments to the call handler. No offences disclosed at present |
| Transgender / sexual orientation | Male has contacted the control room making hate related comments to the call handler. No offences disclosed at present |
| Disability | Known offender has posted abusive and derogatory remarks on social media about the IP regarding their disability |
| Racial | IP reported that unknown offender has shared images on social media with her home address indicating a hate crime |
| Sexual orientation | The suspect has been posting unkind comments about the IP being a cross dresser on social media. Further course of conduct |
| Sexual orientation | The suspect has sent the IP a hateful message via Instagram regarding her sexual orientation |
| Racial | IP reports that he has received racial comments from a male, linking him to child sexual abuse cases in [UK Placename] |
| Racial | IP has been sent verbally abusive messages by the suspect. A racial slur has also been used within the message. Possible hate crime disclosed |
| Racial | The IP disclosed that she has been racially abused by children who have called her derogatory names |
| Disability | Informant reporting abusive messages on Facebook |
| Racial | Known offender has posted a comment on IP’s social media stating “if you cannot speak Welsh, you shouldn’t be here” |
| Racial | Informant reporting a racial comment made by a work colleague via social media |
| Transgender | Known offender has made transphobic comments toward the IP on social media and direct messages |
| Racial | Male posting things about informant online |
| Religion | The suspect made hate related remarks online about the IP being a Muslim, calling her a terrorist and commenting on her clothing |
| Disability | Report of youths targeting the IP due to disability, putting photos of the male on social media with abuse |
| Racial | Step father reports seeing racially insensitive material regarding their partner on their step son’s phone |
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