The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, Monday launched a new police unit – the first of its kind in the UK - to help tackle online hate crime and improve support for victims across the capital, as part of his manifesto commitment to ensure a zero-tolerance approach to hate crime of all forms.
Five dedicated Met police officers, led by a Detective Inspector, make up the new Online Hate Crime Hub, which aims to improve the police response to online hate by gathering intelligence, improving understanding and testing new investigation methods.
Working with community groups, social media organisations, academic hate crime specialists and criminal justice partners, these specially recruited and trained officers will help to identify, prevent and investigate these crimes, including abuse on Twitter and Facebook.
The Hub has been granted £452,000 by the Home Office Police Innovation Fund, with the remainder of funding coming from MOPAC and the Met.
