A secret police catalogue of ‘hate incidents’ could destroy job prospects as the information can be disclosed to potential employers, it was warned earlier this week.
As reported by the Mail, people trying to get jobs working with children or vulnerable adults could find a non-crime hate incident (NCHI) being disclosed to a prospective employer without knowing it even exists.
People trying to get jobs working with children or vulnerable adults could find a non-crime hate incident (NCHI) being disclosed to a prospective employer without knowing it even exists.
Disclosure Scotland is responsible for sharing information about people’s criminal records so employers can decide if the applicant is suitable for the job.
There are now fears that ‘enhanced’ checks by employers to the government agency may uncover a police record of a non-crime hate incident.
With the support of the Free Speech Union (FSU), Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser is threatening to take legal action against Police Scotland after a tweet he posted criticising the Scottish Government’s transgender policy was logged as an Orwellian ‘hate incident (non-crime incident)’.
Thousands of other people are named on police files under the ‘Orwellian’ system – and experts say details of the incidents recorded can be revealed during a job application process, at the discretion of Police Scotland.
Critics fear a surge in NCHIs after the introduction of hate crime legislation on Monday.
Last night, Mr Fraser said: “I was – and remain – furious that the spurious complaint made against me was logged as a hate incident without my knowledge.
“How many other members of the public are similarly unwitting victims of this Orwellian approach to policing, despite having committed no crime?”
Policy analyst Murray Blackburn Mackenzie said NCHIs are recorded on Police Scotland’s vulnerable persons database, which is incident-based and retains information “in relation to a range of concerns”.
Toby Young of the Free Speech Union said: “One of the most sinister aspects of non-crime hate incidents is that the police can reveal them during enhanced disclosure checks.
“That could mean not getting a job as a teacher or a carer. Why? Because the policy has judged you’re guilty of a ‘non-crime’. It’s positively Orwellian.”
Worth reading in full.
If you’re resident in Scotland and worried about having a ‘non-crime hate incident’ recorded against you following the activation of the Scottish Hate Crime Act on April 1st, join the Free Speech Union today – we’ll do everything we can to get it scrubbed from the record.
