October 29, 2025 | Incident and Crime Statistics , Hate Crime and Equality
Request Number: FOI/15668
Category: Incident and Crime Statistics - Hate Crime and Equality
Subject: Racist and Anti-Migrant Crimes
Request and Answer:
Your request for information has now been considered. In respect of Section 1(1)(a) of the Act we can confirm that the Police Service of Northern Ireland does hold information to which your request relates and some of this is being provided to you.
We further consider that some of the information you seek is exempt by virtue of Sections 38(1)(a) and 40(2)(a)(b) of FOIA and have detailed our rationale as to why this exemption applies.
We have also provided you with links to guidance issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office which we have followed in responding to your request.
Question 1
I would be grateful if you could provide the following information:
The total number of recorded racist and anti-migrant crimes over the past three years (broken down by year, if possible).
Answer 1
Section 17(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires the Police Service of Northern Ireland, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which:
- states that fact,
- specifies the exemption in question and
- states (if not otherwise apparent) why the exemption applies.
The exemption is listed below:
Section 21 - Information Reasonably Accessible by Other Means
The full text of exemptions can be found at www.legislation.gov.uk and further guidance on how they operate can be located on the Information Commissioners Office website www.ico.org.uk.
You can find this information within our published material where we provide breakdowns of race hate incidents and crimes by various time periods, geographies and crime classifications. Our published hate crime bulletins can be found on the PSNI website: Hate Motivation Statistics | PSNI
Additional geographic breakdowns can be found on the NISRA Data Portal: Hate motivated crimes and incidents
Question 2
A list of each recorded incident of racist and anti-migrant crimes within this period, including
The date and location of the offence, and
The nature of the incident (for example, what was said or done).
Answer 2
PSNI are withholding this information under Sections 38(1) and 40(2). The requested breakdown at this level has the potential to identify individuals and, in turn, put their health and safety at risk
Section 17(1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 requires the Police Service of Northern Ireland, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which:
- states that fact,
- specifies the exemption in question and
- states (if not otherwise apparent) why the exemption applies.
The exemptions, as well as the factors the department considered when deciding where the public interest lies, are listed below:
Section 38(1)(a) – Health and Safety – Information is exempt information if its disclosure under
this Act would, or would be likely to: (a) endanger the physical or mental health of any individual.
Section 40(2)(a)(b) by virtue of 40(3)(A)(a) Personal Information – Information constitutes personal data and disclosure would contravene any of the Data Protection principles.
The full text of exemptions can be found at www.legislation.gov.uk and further guidance on how they operate can be located on the Information Commissioners Office website www.ico.org.uk.
Section 38 is a prejudice-based and qualified exemption which means the public authority must demonstrate that harm in releasing the information exists and carry out a public interest test.
Harm
Due to the low level data, releasing the breakdown by date, location and incident summary would be likely to identify individuals and, in turn, risk their health and safety.
Public Interest Test
Factors Favouring Release - Section 38
As there is a public interest, release of this information would allow for better informed public awareness and would assist the public in ensuring openness and transparency.
Factors Against Release – Section 38
Due to the low level data, releasing this information into the public domain could increase the risk that those who have made reports could be identified. This could result reprisals/attacks against them. An increased risk of harm to any member of the public, as a result of disclosure, would not be in the public interest. Publishing this information could lead to the loss of public confidence in PSNI’s ability to protect the wellbeing of any individual(s).
Decision
Information should not be released, if it is likely to have a detrimental effect on the physical or mental health of any individual. The public entrust the PSNI to make appropriate decisions with regard to their safety and protection and the only way of reducing risk is to be cautious with what is placed into the public domain. Whilst there is a public interest in the openness and transparency of the PSNI, there is a strong public interest in safeguarding members of the public and the ability of the police service to protect individuals. It is for these reasons that the public interest must be against release of this information.
Section 40 is a Class-based exemption, therefore it is not necessary to evidence the harm caused by disclosure nor is it necessary to carry out a public interest test in this case.
Section 40(2) of the FOIA is an absolute exemption which means there is no requirement on PSNI to consider whether there is a public interest in disclosure. It is an interface exemption and we must consider whether release of the information would breach the General Data Protection Regulations (‘GDPR’) or the Data Protection Act 2018 (‘DPA’) Third party personal information constitutes ‘personal data’ under the GDPR (Article 4) and DPA (Part 1 s.3).
Under the Freedom of Information Act, PSNI must consider if information can be released into the public domain. We have therefore considered whether the disclosure of this personal data is subject to the exemption at Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 by virtue of Section 40(3)(A)(a). As information is ‘personal data’, PSNI considered whether disclosure would contravene any of the six data protection principles contained within the GDPR or DPA.
The six data protection principles are good information handling standards which PSNI must comply with in relation to how it handles personal information, including deciding whether to disclose it or not. In particular, the first principle requires personal data to be processed in a lawful and fair manner. In considering whether it is ‘fair’ to any individual to release information about them, PSNI considered the likely expectations of those individuals and the nature of the information involved and the material you have requested. Individuals must have confidence that their information is treated sensitively and appropriately by PSNI. Members of the public must have confidence that their information is treated sensitively and appropriately. We consider release of this information would be unfair to those individuals as it would not be in their reasonable expectation. PSNI therefore consider the exemption at Section 40(2) to be engaged in relation to the requested information.