Manual on hate crime training for law enforcement

The training manual focuses on the development of knowledge and skills to improve police response to hate crimes. The overall goal of the curriculum is to equip trainers with the necessary tools to deliver training for police on responding to hate crimes. The training is intended to be learner-oriented, practical and professional.

The manual is designed to accompany a multi-day training-of-trainers programme. After attending the programme and studying this manual, trainers, preferably working in two-person teams, will be able to deliver training that enables police officers to:

• Recognize and understand the dynamics of hate crimes and the impact that hate crimes have on victims;
• Understand and be able to apply relevant legislation;
• Gain and put into practice skills to respond to and to investigate hate crimes;
• Increase officers’ awareness of their duties to protect all citizens.

Target audience

The principal beneficiaries of the manual are:

• Educators and trainers in national and regional police training institutions;
• Persons responsible for education and training of law enforcement officials across the entire spectrum of police training (national law enforcement officials below command level, mid-management, senior national law enforcement officials);
• Externals trainers who are involved in training for the police on how to respond to hate crimes;
• Trainers and curriculum writers who are involved in human rights training.

Methodological Principles of the Training

Interactive and Motivational

• The training is highly interactive because learning by doing has been demonstrated to be the most effective approach.
• The training is motivational. It is aimed not only at building technical skills and knowledge, but also at demonstrating the adverse impact hate crimes have on society and motivating police to investigate and respond to hate crimes.

Human rights based

• The programme follows a human rights-based approach because respect for fundamental human rights, prevention of discrimination and equality before the law are essential elements to guarantee the security of individuals and communities.

Inclusive

The effectiveness of training for police in responding to hate crimes is greatly enhanced by consultation with civil society and community representatives. They offer significant intelligence and information in relation to the nature of hate crimes and are important partners in effective responses to hate crimes. The examples of hate crimes and bias incidents contained in this curriculum and the case studies contained in Module 10 were developed based on information provided to the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) by civil society and community representatives.

The publication is a short version of OSCE/ODIHR trainer’s manual. The short version is prepared by the Ministry’s Working Group and adjusted to the needs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs that will be used for training of police officers.