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Article
Policing Hatred: A Case Study of an English Police Force
Journal of Hate Studies (2010)
  • Jordan Woods, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Abstract
Each year, hundreds of thousands of people in the United Kingdom believe that they have been victimized because of their race, gender, religion, sexuality, or disability status (BCS, 2008; Stonewall, 2008). Although police officers have the critical responsibility of enforcing hate crime laws, little is known about how the British police apply these laws to everyday situations (Gerstenfeld, 2004). The concept of hate crime has gained force within the United Kingdom only during the past decade, and therefore, hate crime research from the United Kingdom is limited (Hall, 2005). Research on hate crime policing is especially rare (Hall, 2005; Chakraborti & Garland, 2009). This article makes an important contribution to the field of hate studies by advancing the understanding of hate crime policing in the United Kingdom. The article presents an ethnographic case study on hate crime policing within a small-city police station in England. The study focused primarily on the police station’s Community Cohesion Unit (CCU), which was responsible for supporting hate crime informants, and for monitoring and assisting police officers handling hate incidents and hate crimes. For ethical reasons, I use pseudonyms for people and place names, including the name of the police station itself (“Lakeview Police Station”).
Keywords
  • Hate crimes,
  • Criminal Law
Disciplines
Publication Date
2010
Citation Information
Jordan Woods. "Policing Hatred: A Case Study of an English Police Force" Journal of Hate Studies Vol. 9 (2010) p. 127
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jordan-woods/12/