
Denmark
Denmark regularly reports hate crime data to ODIHR. Denmark's hate crime laws are comprised of a general penalty-enhancement provision. Reported data include discrimination and hate speech offences, although these can be disaggregated. Hate crime data are collected by the Danish National Police and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Hate crime statistics are regularly published. Denmark conducts regular victimization surveys to measure unreported hate crime.
How hate crime data is collected
The Danish National Police has monitored hate crimes since November 2015. Monitoring activities provide knowledge about the extent of hate crimes, of developments in the area, and enables accurate processing of cases.
The Danish National Police has national hate crime registration guidelines. When recording a crime, a police officer has to register case details, as well as a short description of the case. While bias motivation is not recorded, search keys are used to track hate crimes in the electronic police case management system (POLSAS). Search keys are attached to relevant cases and are used as the foundation for searches and analyses across data..
Police officers identify hate crimes by interviewing the victim and/or witnesses. They also take the crime scene into account. Police officers ask open questions about the victims' (and the witnesses') perception of the motive. The police officers must also be aware of physical characteristics of the victim and the offender. If the victim suspects they were subject to a hate crime, police officers must take this into account. If police officers suspect a hate crime, even though the victim has not mentioned it themselves, they must try to get the victim to elaborate. Police officers must be unprejudiced and make the victim feel as comfortable as possible.
All criminal cases are registered in the Danish Police case management system, POLSAS. The Danish National Police includes cases that are:
1. Motivated by racism, including bias against: a. nationality/ethnicity; b. race/skin colour; and c. other;
2. Motivated by bias against religious beliefs, including a. Christianity; b. Judaism; c. Islam; d. Buddhism; e. Hinduism; and f. other religious beliefs and congregations;
3. Motivated by bias against sexual orientation, including a. homosexuality; b. transvestism (and transsexual); and c. other. The subcategory "transvestism" includes victims who have been targeted because of their gender identity and/or their gender expression.
The Danish National Police also monitors "incidents without charges and other investigative measures" with a bias motivation. In addition, the Danish National Police monitors hate speech, which is a criminal offence according to section 266b of the penal code.
The Ministry of Justice conducts an annual victimization survey. In this survey, victims who report that they were subjected to violence are asked whether they think the violence was motivated by, for example, racism or sexual orientation.
Official Data
Hate crimes recorded by police
In addition to the hate crimes presented below, the Danish National Police also monitors incidents without charges and other investigative measures that had a bias motivation.
National developments
The Danish National Police is now part of a Nordic police network working with hate crimes, initiated by the Norwegian Criminal Police.
The National Police College delivers an initial mandatory course on hate crime, in which police cadets are taught how to interact with targeted groups and how to communicate with victims in a respectful and understanding manner.
The Danish National Police offers officers a training seminar on hate crime as part of continuing education efforts.
International reports
No information is available.
Key observation
ODIHR observes that Denmark has not reported to ODIHR the number of prosecuted and sentenced hate crime cases.