by Essex Police has set up a “gold squad” normally reserved for dealing with major crimes to handle the investigation into a Telegraph journalist’s social media post.
Award-winning writer Allison Pearson is being investigated by the force for allegedly inciting racial hatred in a post made on social media in November last year.
When they visited Pearson’s home, officers refused to tell her any details about the posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, which was being investigated, or who made the complaint against her.
Pearson said officers told her the matter was being treated as a non-criminal hate incident rather than a criminal investigation.
The force claims this is “completely inaccurate” and said “as the public would expect” it had body-worn video of the encounter which it claimed “fully supports our position”.
It comes as a county councilor accused Essex Police of “institutional incompetence and dysfunction on an epic scale”, and it emerged the force admitted it was unable to send an emergency response to all 999 calls about drug dealing.
The Telegraph previously revealed the scale of the year-long investigation, which involved officers from the Metropolitan Police, Sussex Police and Essex Police all involved in the complaint over the past year.
On Friday, it emerged that the force had set up a gold group, normally used to deal with major incidents such as terrorist attacks, to deal with the investigation.
The purpose of the gold groups is to ensure “the effectiveness of the ongoing police response” and are usually led by an assistant chief constable or above.
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services says a gold group has been established to “improve the police response to an incident, crime or other matter”.
The guidance states: “This involves bringing together suitably skilled and appropriately qualified stakeholders who can advise, guide or support the management of an effective response to the identified incident , on the crime or other matter.”
The Telegraph understands that the social media post in question was reported to the Metropolitan Police as a possible breach of the Malicious Communications Act in November last year. The case was then referred to Sussex Police, who declared it a possible non-criminal hate incident (NCHI), as well as a possible malicious communication.
Sussex Police referred him to Essex, where Pearson lives. Essex is understood to have carried out two assessments of the complaint before launching an investigation under section 17 of the Public Order Act 1986, which related to material allegedly “likely or intended to cause racial hatred”, and visiting her home.
Institutional incompetence
The investigation into Pearson has been labeled a “found” attack on free speech by a force that has “prioritised diversity over real crime”.
Cllr Neil Gregory, a substitute member of the Essex Police, Fire and Crime Panel, accused Essex Police of “institutional incompetence and dysfunction on an epic scale”.
He told the Telegraph: “The impression I get is certainly that they are prioritizing diversity over real crime.
“It is unfortunate that the appalling treatment of Allison is only the tip of the iceberg of obsession with diversity, criminal negligence and institutional incompetence and dysfunction on an epic scale.
“CC [Chief Constable Ben-Julian] Harrington is more concerned with promoting diversity than dealing with crime, in fact his division commander for Uttlesford and Braintree indicated at a public meeting that they will not address active and public drug dealing due to a lack of resources, it seems that resources by Essex Police. to go after those who send tweets on Remembrance Sunday but not to find drug dealers in broad daylight.
“There’s a strange set of priorities. We’ve got a serious drug problem, we’ve got an under-resourced police force and you go to the different Twitter feeds of the different officers and it’s about the latest diversity cases they’ve been on.”
Essex Police have been accused of ignoring 999 calls from residents worried about drug deals on the streets, according to documents obtained by The Telegraph.
Documents also revealed that Essex Police would not send a “patrol car” every time it received a tip from a concerned resident.
At a community meeting in Uttlesford in February this year, police were told that residents often saw drug deals being made in public and believed the police were not doing anything about it.
“We noted the number of residents at the meeting who expressed concern about apparent open drug dealing in various communities across the area and the apparent lack of response to those activities when reported,” Mr Gregory said.
“It was made clear that 999 calls for overt drug dealing would not be followed up.”
In response, Essex Police Fire and Crime Commissioner Roger Hirst told several representatives attending the meeting that the force took drug-related crime “very seriously”.
But not every call from the public “is going to be made by sending a patrol car,” he said.
“More often it will be done by using information, building strong cases and their ability to exploit and manipulate the children and young people they rely on to sustain this business.”
As some residents remain unhappy with Essex Police’s response to drug crimes, Andy Marriner, Assistant Chief Constable of Essex Police, has written to “reassure” local councilors that the force “combats drug dealing aggressively and continues to listen to the concerns of the people of the area. “.
He outlined several drug stings that resulted in arrests and urged residents to continue to contact police with any information.
“We are also progressing a number of investigations in the area which were initiated as a result of the public sharing information with us,” Chief Constable Marriner said in the email.
“The more we receive, the more we will be able to continue to take action as appropriate, and I would ask that you encourage residents in your area to continue to report their views in as much detail as possible.” possible to help us build a picture of what is happening. in their own area for each crime so that we can progress.”
A spokesman for Essex Police said: “Officers attended a residential address to arrange an appointment to interview a woman regarding a complaint made by a member of the public.
“That is why, under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, no further information was provided – officers, who were in the area at the time, arranged this time to talk in the coming days about this call.
“At no time during the brief interaction between the woman and our officers was she informed that the report being investigated was being treated as a non-hate crime incident. To suggest otherwise is inaccurate and misleading.
“As the community would expect, we have a body worn video of this interaction that fully supports our position on this.”
The spokesman said the force took drug-related crime “very seriously” and its work had resulted in drug dealers being jailed for a total of 800 years in 2023.
They said: “In total across Essex last year, we arrested 440 people on suspicion of drug dealing offences; Cut 305 – 70 percent charge rate.
“The rate of drug offenses in Uttlesford is half the rate in the rest of the country. There are 1.6 drug offenses per 1,000 people in Uttlesford, across Essex, that’s 3 per 1,000.”
