Police chiefs savage hate crime flaws: officers warn new law risks being 'weaponised', damaging trust in force and making it harder to tackle serious crime

Humza Yousaf’s controversial hate crime law has been savaged by Scotland’s senior police officers. In a bombshell letter to Holyrood’s criminal justice committee, Chief Superintendent Rob Hay, president of the ASPS, said: ‘There is certainly enough anger and hateful bile online to occupy every police officer in Scotland. ‘The extent to which society will tolerate or expect the police to be drawn into adjudicating ill-tempered, abusive spats online is a matter for wider debate.’ Mr Hay added: ‘We have a concern that individuals who could be described as the “activist fringe” of particular viewpoints… will seek to “weaponise” the new legislation and associated police investigation.’ The ASPS is a staff association managed by serving superintendents and chief superintendents – the most senior rank below assistant chief constable. When they are told that the police will be taking no further action, they may feel aggrieved by this process and lose trust in the police.’ He said the ASPS’s view is that ‘Police Scotland, currently with the lowest number of police officers in over a decade, must focus on those crimes and offences that cause the most harm and represent the highest risk to public safety’. I’m unaware how many officers will have completed the training course but given that it began on February 5, 2024, it’s unlikely that all officers will have been trained prior to April 1.’ Scottish Tory justice spokesman Russell Findlay said: ‘The people of Scotland expect police officers to keep communities safe and investigate crime, not get drawn into pathetic online abuse from noisy and intolerant activists with an axe to grind.