Reporting hate crime
Police Scotland treats all hate crimes seriously. We want you to report it.
We are here to protect people in all of our communities and are committed to delivering our values of integrity, fairness, respect and upholding human rights.
It’s important to report hate crime whether you are affected personally, or if you witness someone else being targeted. For example, you could be a friend, neighbour, family member, support worker or a passer-by.
You should tell the police if you think it happened because of disability, race, religion, sexual orientation or transgender identity. It may even be a combination of these things. This is important as it tells us that it could be a hate crime.
If something happens and you are not sure if it is a crime, please remember, if it feels wrong, report it and let us help.
How to report a hate crime
If you see it happen, there are different ways you can report it.
- By phoning 999 (emergency) 101 (non-emergency)
- In person at any police station,
- By completing a Hate Crime Reporting Form
- At a Third Party Reporting Centre
- Text 999 (this is for registered users only)
- Contact Scotland-BSL
- Keep Safe Scotland App
Third party reporting
Sometimes victims or witnesses of hate crime don’t feel comfortable reporting the incident to the police. They might be more comfortable reporting it to someone they know.
Police Scotland works in partnership with a number of organisations and groups, to take reports, known as third party reporting centres.
Third party reporting centres could be housing associations, victim support offices and voluntary groups. Staff have been trained to recognise hate crimes and help a victim or witness to submit a report to the police.
Third party reports can be made without giving your name. However, that might affect how much investigation we can do. Find your nearest Third Party Reporting Centre.
Report it anonymously
If you’d prefer to remain anonymous, you can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. They are an independent charity that gives you the power to speak up and stop crime, 100% anonymously. Find out more about Crimestoppers
Have you heard about our Don’t Feed Hate campaign?
