The UK College of Policing is set to scrap the controversial “Non-Crime Hate Incidents” (NCHIs)—a system critics call a “thought-crime blacklist“—after years of chilling free speech, wasting police resources, and ruining lives over non-criminal remarks.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
LONDON — The UK College of Policing is poised to abolish the Orwellian “Non-Crime Hate Incidents” (NCHIs), a notorious tool used to log non-criminal speech on national police databases, according to The Daily Telegraph. The move, described as a “sea change” by Lord Herbert, chairman of the College of Policing, follows years of backlash from free speech advocates, who argue the system weaponized police power to silence dissent and destroy careers over legal speech.
A System Built on Censorship
NCHIs allowed police to record complaints about non-criminal speech—often political opinions, jokes, or social media posts—on the national crime database. These secret, non-appealable entries could then appear on enhanced background checks, blocking employment and ruining reputations—all for committing no actual crime.
“Holding information about non-crime incidents on a crime system is not the right solution,” Lord Herbert admitted. “NCHIs will go as a concept. That system will be scrapped and replaced with a completely different system.”
A “Chilling Effect” on Free Speech
The Free Speech Union, which has led the fight against NCHIs, called the development “cause for cautious optimism” but vowed to “monitor developments closely” to ensure the system is fully dismantled.
“NCHIs have had a chilling effect on free speech and have been weaponized by militant activists to silence their opponents,” the group stated. “Most pernicious of all, NCHIs can appear on enhanced DBS checks and prevent people from getting jobs—for committing a non-crime.”
The waste of police resources has been staggering:
- 60,000 hours of police time wasted annually on NCHIs.
- 13,000+ incidents logged in 2023–2024 alone.
- 90% of all crimes went unsolved in 2023, while police prioritized policing tweets over streets.
“It’s time to police our streets, not our tweets,” the Free Speech Union declared.
The Final Straw: Graham Linehan’s Arrest
The collapse of NCHIs accelerated after Irish comedian Graham Linehan—creator of Father Ted—was arrested by UK police in 2025 over tweets posted while outside the UK. The Metropolitan Police’s investigation imploded so spectacularly that the force announced in October it would no longer investigate NCHIs, admitting it wanted to avoid “toxic culture war debates” and focus on real crime.
Will the Past Be Erased?
While the proposed reform would stop future NCHIs, it remains unclear whether 25 years’ worth of existing records—some still appearing on background checks—will be deleted. Lord Herbert hinted that some “monitoring” would continue to avoid “throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”
A Victory for Free Speech—With Caveats
The Free Speech Union warned that true reform requires full deletion of past NCHIs and a firm commitment to end all logging of non-criminal speech.
“We will ensure NCHIs are consigned to the dustbin of history,” the group pledged.
The End of an Orwellian Era?
For years, police forces defended NCHIs, claiming they helped “prevent hate crime”—despite no evidence they reduced actual crime. Instead, they empowered activists to weaponize the police against political opponents, journalists, and comedians.
Now, after public outrage, legal challenges, and police admissions of waste, the system appears on the brink of collapse. But vigilance remains critical—because as the Free Speech Union notes, “common sense” in policing is only as good as those defining it.
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