Time To Stop Racism Against Police Officers

12 November 2025

Humberside Police officers and staff from ethnic minority backgrounds are suffering despicable racial abuse while on duty – with many feeling unable and resigned to not reporting it.

More than 50% of respondents to a Humberside Police Federation survey of ethnic minority colleagues said they had experienced racial abuse while on duty, it can be revealed.

As part of the Federation’s new campaign, ‘Protect The Protectors: Stop Racism Against Police’ – launched today – Humberside Police Federation is now going to be highlighting to the public, politicians and police leaders the offensive level of abuse that colleagues face.

Those in positions of authority must provide the strongest deterrents and punishments to those perpetrating these abusive crimes.

Lee Sims, Chair of Humberside Police Federation, said: “The fact that in 2025 our police officers and staff from ethnic minority backgrounds are facing racist abuse whilst doing their duty in protecting the public is truly disgusting.

“One incident is one too many, there is no room for this in society and our colleagues do not come to work to suffer any hate crime. There is simply no excuse for this abuse, and it must stop.

“We are launching this campaign to highlight to everyone what our colleagues are having to endure – and also how some of them feel that sadly there is no point reporting it.”

The ‘Protect The Protectors: Stop Racism Against Police’ campaign will hear from officers and staff who have suffered racist abuse on the job, highlight the statistics around this and push for politicians of all parties and those that can affect change to join the Federation in taking a stand against it.

Lee continued: “There is no place for Racism – and this kind of abuse against our colleagues needs the toughest of punishments and deterrents. Due to this, the Federation will be writing to our local MPs to ask for their support. We all need to stand together.”

As part of the ‘Protect The Protectors: Stop Racism Against Police’ campaign, the Federation is surveying minority ethnic Humberside Police officers and staff about the abuse they have faced, whether they have reported it to the force; and if not, why they felt unable to do so.

Of those responding, staff said they had been verbally abused for “sounding different”, and police officers have shared their experiences of sadly being racially abused when out on patrol.

Some respondents who had experienced racial abuse said they hadn’t reported it as they didn’t want to be seen as difficult, and others said they did not believe the issue would be dealt with seriously.

One officer stated: “I don’t want to be seen as a victim or a chronic complainer.” Another said they did not want to draw “unnecessary attention to themselves” as a minority ethnic officer.

Worryingly, another officer said that one of the reasons they had not reported racist incidents was because “you can become de-sensitised to abuse over a long career and it becomes the norm”.

In Humberside, the percentage of minority ethnic police officers is lower than the percentage of minority ethnic people in the local population. The most recent Government figures, from March 2024, show that 97.7% of Humberside Police officers were white, compared to 95% of the local population.

Local statistics for the period March 2024 to March 2025 show there were 14 reported hate crimes against Humberside Police officers, but only four of these incidents resulted in a charge against the offender.

Over the past five years, there have been 94 such reports – however, the Federation believe the numbers are under-reported and the true figures were likely to be higher.

The Federation will continue to work closely with the force to support our officers suffering any abuse on or off duty.

Lee added: “Racial abuse should not be considered ‘normal’ and our valued colleagues should feel comfortable reporting these incidents to the force.”