Hate crime disclaimers: barriers to education and policing of hate crimes in Sweden

Policing hate crimes presents numerous challenges. Police officers play a crucial role in the initial identification of these crimes, yet a lack of knowledge and training often hampers their ability to do so effectively. Despite increased attention to hate crimes over the past decades, the effectiveness of targeted police training remains underexplored. This study examines the barriers faced by Swedish police trainees in recognising hate crimes during a 5-week course on hate crime and discrimination. Drawing on trainees’ accounts and reinterpretations of racist and homophobic hate crimes, the article identifies and codes six central disclaimers that serve to disqualify a crime as a hate crime: the trivialisation disclaimer, the lack-of-evidence disclaimer, the not-the-only-motive disclaimer, the perpetrator’s-mental-status disclaimer, the victim-blaming disclaimer, and the ingroup-bias disclaimer. These disclaimers provide insights that can enhance police education and the initial investigation process of hate crimes. The study also discusses how these barriers to recording hate crimes can impact the investigation process.