Panda cars get a rainbow makeover
Officers’ focus on online offences means they are overlooking the dangerous real-life variety, say critics
Police are using rainbow-coloured patrol vehicles called “hate crime cars” to encourage people to report incidents such as social media comments. Deputy Chief Constable Julie Cooke said that the police insignia and rainbow liveries would patrol daily. Critics have said forces should focus on “real” issues such as knife crime and rape, with the latest figures showing poor prosecution rates. An official police Instagram video has been released explaining the livery.
POLICE are using rainbow-colour patrol vehicles called “hate crime cars” to encourage people to report incidents such as social media comments.
Deputy Chief Constable Julie Cooke said that the police insignia and rainbows liveries are now “part of our fleet” and will patrol daily.
Critics have said forces should focus on “real” issues such as knife crime and rape, with the latest figures showing poor prosecution rates.
DCC Cooke, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead on LGBT-plus issues, released a video through its Instagram account explaining why police have rainbow vehicles.
She said that forces are “always replacing vehicles”. They will bear the police insignia and “there will normally be then something added to do with the rainbow side of things”.
A spokesman for the NPCC said that they did not have figures on how many had been painted as forces operate independently and it is up to individual forces how many cars they want to convert. DCC Cooke, who works at Cheshire Police, added that the “cars are there in the communities on normal policing patrol just to show the community that we want you to come forward.
“It is there to try and give confidence to our Lgbt-plus community, but also to other underrepresented groups.”
She said that the “cost is quite minimal” but the impact is “huge”.
The number of hate crimes reported to police have more than doubled in recent years, with allegations of transgender hate crime seeing the sharpest rise.
But cash-strapped forces across the country have faced criticism for focusing on the allegations, a large number of which stem solely from social media comments.
Even where a crime has not been committed, police record the allegation as a “hate incident”, which could show up on a person’s criminal record checks.
Harry Miller, a former police officer and founder of campaign group Fair Cop, said: “We don’t see the Met with special cars for knife crime even though the number of stabbings in London is appalling.
“The problem is that the second that you see a rainbow car you know that it is a police force that has made its mind up about some very contentious issues.
“You no longer see a police car or a police officer who is there to support everyone, from all political persuasions,
‘We don’t see the Met with special cars for knife crime’
without fear or favour. They have literally tied their colours to the mast and painted their cars with their political leanings.
“They are painting rainbows on their cars when we have figures showing that only 7 per cent of violent crime ended in a prosecution. They have moved from policing crime to policing thoughts and speech, because it is easier.”
Dept Chief Constable Mark Hamilton, who leads on hate crime for the NPCC, said that responses to hate crime are a key priority after the inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence.
He said the police have a legal duty to protect victims under the Human Rights and Equalities Acts.
“Tackling hate crime is a priority for policing. However, this does not detract from the service to victims of other crime types and anyone who has been a victim of crime should report it to the police,” said DCC Hamilton.
“Early interventions, such as responding to hate crime, is also one of the most effective actions to reduce the escalation of violent crime and community tensions.”