How to report a hate crime

If you think you have witnessed a hate crime and want to report it, you can do so in a number of ways. If you think the victim of the hate crime has autism or a learning disability, it’s important to report this too.

If you or anyone else is in immediate danger then you should call 999.

How to report a hate crime

Report a hate crime over the phone

If the hate crime is serious or an emergency, call 999 and tell the respondent you believe you are witnessing a hate crime.

If it isn’t an emergency, call 101 and tell the respondent what you have witnessed.

When reporting a crime, always be clear if you suspect the victim has autism or a learning disability. If you are able to, stay with the victim and help the police understand how to communicate with them.

Use the self-reporting system

You can anonymously report a hate crime online. This system is designed to report any form of hate incident or crime that you may have witnessed, or if you are reporting on behalf of someone else.

Sometimes you might feel the incident isn’t serious enough to report to the police but it’s still extremely important that they know and have it on their records.

Visit the Report it – Report a crime online webpage.

Use the Report-It form

The Report-It form is a form you can print, complete and post to your local police station.

The Report-It website has lots of information, including the animations you see on our website and easy read guides.

We helped to produce some of this content with True Vision and we hope it will help you.

Visit the Report-It website

Use a third party organisation

You can report hate crimes to third party organisations (those not associated with the police). These organisations are set up to support victims of hate crime:

Staying safe as a witness to a hate crime

If you are witness to a crime, you need to put your safety first.

  • In an emergency call 999.
  • Stay alert and safe.
  • Don’t physically intervene.
  • Put everything that you remember about the incident in writing.
  • Report the incident as soon as possible.