GMP joins Stop Racism Against Police campaign

It is fantastic to see Greater Manchester Police Federation joining the Protect The Protectors: Stop Racism Against Police campaign started here in Humberside.

'It's Our Colleagues Dealing With The Abuse'“

It’s very easy for politicians to make decisions or comments, but it's our police colleagues who are standing there, fronting it up and dealing with the flak and the abuse.”

Greater Manchester Police Federation has announced it is backing the ‘Protect The Protectors: Stop Racism Against Police’ campaign, with the Federation’s Equality Lead, Brett Grange, saying officers were facing more racial abuse amid political upheaval.

The campaign aims to collect data on the scale of racial abuse against officers, raise awareness of what the police are facing, do more to protect officers and staff, and ensure offenders are dealt with appropriately.

At least 11,000 hate crimes were committed against UK officers in the past three years, a recent Freedom of Information (FOI) request found. However, the true figure is likely to be much higher – even close to double – as 21 forces, including Greater Manchester Police, were unable to provide data.

Brett was disappointed that the force said it was unable to provide data on hate crimes against its officers. He said: “It doesn't reassure me that my colleagues will be looked after, when we don't have the information to know how big the problem is. It also makes me worry about the priorities that are sometimes set because of budget constraints.

“We've got fantastic new data tools that help us understand crime patterns, and that's right and proper. But we don't seem to extend that courtesy to our colleagues.

“When we're seeing an increase in race hate crime among the public, it's only logical to assume that's happening to our colleagues. I suspect the data, when it is produced, will show that. The fact we don't have that data shows there's a risk to our colleagues that we're just not dealing with.”

Brett said police officers were bearing the brunt of public unrest: “Every assault on a police officer is horrendous and it is unacceptable that a police officer is assaulted every 10 minutes in the UK. We have also found that officers from an ethnic minority background are being targeted for assaults and abuse simply because of the colour of their skin.

“The police are often seen as a non-human, faceless, wall. As the country faces upheaval and public opinions shift, the police are often at the brunt of that. As we see an increase in polarised opinions, I’ve seen an increase in officers being blamed, not particularly because they've done something, but because they represent the state. It's very easy for politicians to make decisions or comments, but it's our colleagues who are standing there, fronting it up and dealing with the flak and the abuse.”

Brett added that some officers didn’t report the racist abuse they received, because of the extra work it would create for colleagues, or because they did not think it would be taken seriously by the courts.

He said: “People sometimes think: ‘Am I just creating more work for myself or a colleague who's already stressed out and overworked? I can just pretend I didn't hear it’. Because officers are dealing with so much demand, it almost creates a culture of: ‘This is too hard to do’, and that worries me.

“We need to motivate officers into acting on behalf of their colleagues – it's a minimum standard I'd expect, really. But there’s a nervousness around accusation, the nervousness around complaints, and being filmed 24-7 by anybody and everybody, so I think cops feel like whatever they do is going to be wrong, and sometimes they'll pick the course of least resistance.”

Brett encouraged Federation members who had faced abuse to report it to the force, and contact their Fed Rep if they needed extra help and support: “If people don't report this, it emboldens the offender. The next person they come across might receive a more significant racial attack, and it might be a member of the public unable to defend themselves.

“No colleague I’ve met would ever be concerned about doing that work [reporting racist abuse] on behalf of another colleague. They would happily do it to protect them, as a form of backup.”

He added: “Every Federation Rep is really committed to helping our colleagues – it matters to us. We want to help. We're not just here for a certain group, we're here for everybody.”