Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Donna Jones, has raised concerns about the ‘proportionality and necessity of the Constabulary’s response’ after a 51-year-old man was arrested as part of an alleged hate crime incident on social media.
A video was published on Twitter last week showing Hampshire police officers investigating the sharing of a post on Twitter that showed Pride Month flags in the shape of a swastika.
Two arrests made
It’s alleged that the original image had been posted by actor and campaigner, Laurence Fox, who was subsequently banned from Twitter for the weekend.
A former army veteran was arrested on suspicion of retweeting the image and a former police officer was also arrested on the scene for obstruction of a police officer.
The arrests were made on 28th July by the Constabulary following the report of an image being published on social media.
Jones: “Concerned about proportionality and necessity of police’s response”
PCC Donna Jones,
“I am aware of the video published on Twitter which shows the arrest of two men in Hampshire, one for malicious communications and one for obstruction of a police officer.
“I am concerned about both the proportionality and necessity of the police’s response to this incident. When incidents on social media receive not one but two visits from police officers, but burglaries and non-domestic break-ins don’t always get a police response, something is wrong.
“As Police Commissioner, I am committed to ensuring Hampshire Constabulary serves the public as the majority of people would expect. It appears on this occasion this has not happened.
“This incident has highlighted a really topical issue which Hampshire Constabulary and other police forces need to learn from. In order to support this I will be writing to the College of Policing to make them aware of this incident and encourage greater clarification on the guidance in order to ensure that police forces can respond more appropriately in the future.”
