October 17, 2025
17th October, 2025
It is clear that tensions and levels of fear remain extremely high, particularly in the wake of the tragedy of the terrorist attack in Manchester.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council has received a number of duplicated communications from members of the public, expressing a belief that policing has not been robust enough in its response to material and chanting during public demonstrations throughout the UK.
A proportionate response to upholding human rights and freedoms is a vital part of how policing protects our society. Police colleagues and commanders have to make dynamic decisions, taking into consideration competing rights, but also practical and tactical decisions about how to prevent escalation of tensions and to keep our communities safe.
Operational decisions for policing events and responding to reported criminality are the responsibility of individual officers, operational commanders, and local chief officers. There are established procedures in place to challenge or complain about operational decisions; this is not within the remit of the National Police Chiefs’ Council.
We think it is vital to restate our commitment to combat antisemitism and to bring to justice those who commit crime fuelled by that hostility. We have collected and shared data on antisemitic crime since 2008, and in 2014 we were the first institution globally to adopt the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia definition of antisemitism, a forerunner to the IHRA definition later adopted by HM Government. We work extremely closely with the Jewish community, particularly our partners at the Community Security Trust.
Whilst we have a duty to uphold the right to free speech and freedom to protest, that right does not extend to criminal actions, and the police will not tolerate antisemitic or other hate crime.
We would encourage anyone who witnesses criminality to report it, either to the Community Security Trust or direct to the police, including via our online hate crime reporting mechanism at True Vision.