Chief: Racist Abuse To Officers Won't Be Tolerated

29 June 2026

“We need to work together to show our officers and staff that abuse of any kind towards them, particularly racist abuse, will not be tolerated.”

That was the message from Cleveland Police’s Chief Constable Victoria Fuller, as she backed the Federation’s campaign, Protect The Protectors: Stop Racism Against Police.

The campaign was originally started by Humberside Police Federation, after they found that 50% of their ethnic minority police officers and staff had experienced racist abuse while on duty. The campaign aims to collect data on the scale of racist abuse, raise awareness of what the police are facing, and do more to protect officers and staff.

CC Fuller said: “This is a vital cause. Abuse of any of our officers in any situation is totally wrong, particularly when they so often put themselves in harm's way to protect the public. And when abuse is directed at our officers and staff because of their colour or their religion, it personalises that to a totally different level and it's absolutely abhorrent.

“We need to work together to show our officers and staff – and the public – that abuse of any kind towards them, but particularly racist abuse, will not be tolerated.”

CC Fuller chairs Cleveland Police’s Staff Equality Forum, and works closely with the Race Equality Network. She said: “Their chair, Omair, keeps us updated when we see a rise in racist abuse. Cleveland Police suffered during the violent disorder of 2024, and that was a particular point of difficulty for many of our officers and staff across the force.

“We can't make year-on-year comparisons in relation to racist abuse data, but it is tracked through Op Hampshire. We have a Superintendent who is the lead for hate crime in our force as well, and of course racial abuse towards our officers falls within that category too.”

CC Fuller said that wellbeing support for affected officers and staff was offered through the force’s Occupational Health Unit, and that the Race Equality Network and Federation was able to support people. But she added that she also wanted line managers to listen to officers about what other support they needed.

Her message to officers who feel reporting hate crime doesn’t make a difference was: “Please tell us, because it absolutely does matter, and nobody should have to put up with it. The more people bring this to the fore, the better, and we can understand it better and provide better support.

“I've heard some people say they don't want to place an additional burden on their colleagues to investigate this, but you absolutely aren't, and we are there to protect you, and to make sure that you're getting the best possible support.”

CC Fuller also encouraged officers who witness a colleague being racially abused to report it, saying: “Just as I would expect officers who witness a crime towards any member of the public to proactively deal with it, that's exactly how I would expect them to deal with crime committed against colleagues. It's unacceptable, and we shouldn't be tolerating it.”

She added: “We want the workforce of Cleveland Police to be representative of our communities, because that means we provide a better service to the public. In order to do that, we need to attract and retain people from all different ethnic backgrounds.

“I'll do everything that I can to make sure that we care for our workforce so that they feel like they can come to work and do the very best job that they can for the public and the communities that we serve. And if you do suffer any type of racist abuse, please report it so we can do what we can to help you.”