Police whistleblower says ‘I’ve been a cop for years and never seen the likes of this’

Dumbarton born Green minister Patrick Harvie who was allegedly the victim mof a hate crime during an election campaign. 

By Lucy Ashton

The mandatory training course for Scottish police officers who will be enforcing the SNP’s hate crime law includes a clear reference to Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie.

The controversial legislation will be enforced from April 1 – All Fools Day – three years after it was passed by the Scottish Parliament.

Critics say it will have a “chilling” effect on freedom of speech and create a huge workload for Police Scotland, with bosses insisting that every report must be investigated.

A police whistleblower has contacted the media to highlight the concern shared by many on the frontline.

He claimed: “Every officer from the rank of Constable to Inspector has to provide the ‘correct’ answer to the Patrick Harvie question or be flagged to senior bosses as non compliant in the new legislation.

“The training we’ve had is an online PowerPoint style presentation with questions at the end that must all be answered.

“It’s all come out of nowhere, officers are having to do this training in-between calls. I’ve been in the police for years and [I’ve] never seen the likes of this.

“As of April 1, 2024 Police Scotland will be a private militia for SNP/Green politicians.”

The question is: ‘A high profile, male politician who is a strong supporter of the LGBT community is abused in the street during campaigning and called a ‘Deviant’.

“What aggravators would be recorded for this crime?’ The multiple choice answers are: Disability – physical impairment; Racial – white Scottish; Transgender Identity – female to male; or Sexual orientation – Gay man.”

This question appears to relate to an incident in August 2023, when Mr Harvie was allegedly abused during a live BBC TV interview while campaigning in the street  ahead of the Rutherglen and Hamilton by-election, which was wo9n by Labour.

Police later said a 59-year-old man had been charged over alleged homophobic comments.

This story has caused fury on social media including an accusation that Police Scotland will be wasting time by recording thousands of  “hate incidents which are not even crimes”.

The training course is “mandatory for all officers up to and including the rank of Chief Inspector”.

Another question that has caused consternation among officers relates to “proselytising”, which is defined by Police Scotland as “trying to persuade someone to change their religious or political beliefs or way of life to your own”.

Proselytising is covered by one of the “protection of freedom of expression” safeguards written into the Act, along with “discussion or criticism” of age, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.

Expressions of antipathy, dislike, ridicule or insult” are also permitted as long as they relate to religion or religious beliefs.

However, any comments outside these boundaries risk falling under the new offence of “stirring up hatred”.

The guidance to police states that “the perception of the victim or any other person is the defining factor in determining whether an incident is a hate incident”.

Meanwhile, Police Scotland is rolling out a new policy where around one in 20 crimes such as vandalism or theft will not be investigated where there is no credible witness or CCTV evidence.

The ‘Proportionate Response to Crime’ policy follows the expanded use of Recorded Police Warnings (RPW) for a wide range of crimes.

The whistleblower said: “Any crime that features an aggravation for the new protected characteristics can’t be disposed of by the way of an RPW and must be reported to the procurator fiscal.”

Scottish Conservative shadow justice secretary Russell Findlay said: “If this is genuine Police Scotland material for training officers how to deal with the SNP hate crime law, it seems astonishing that it contains a reference to an alleged incident involving one of Humza Yousaf’s ministers.

“This will do nothing to allay the concerns of women’s rights campaigners given the hostility and intolerance they have experienced from Green MSPs.

“Police officers, who are already suffering from SNP cuts, are clearly concerned about this training and how this dangerous legislation will work in the real world.”

Top of page picture: Will  football supporters come under close scrutiny for bad mouthing fans of the opposition? And will they be prosecuted or simply warned to desist? Police officers want to know the answer to these questions.