It's important to report hate crimes and incidents. It helps the police understand an issue and may stop harm to others.
If someone has not broken the law, the police will not arrest or prosecute them. They can still help you with other support and guidance.
The police are committed to dealing with hate crime, so do not worry about wasting their time. Tell them what happened and they will know if it's a hate crime or hate incident.
You can report a hate crime or a hate incident even if it was not directed at you.
For example, maybe you saw something happen to someone on public transport. Or perhaps you heard about a victimised friend, relative or co-worker. Reporting what happened is the safest thing to do and could stop it from happening again to you or someone else.