'It's About Working Together For the Right Reasons'

17 April 2026

Our colleagues in Cleveland have spoken out in support of our Protect The Protectors: Stop Racism Against Police campaign.

The Chair of Cleveland Police’s Race Equality Network has spoken out about being a repeat victim of hate crime.

In the six and a half years PC Omair Iqbal has worked for Cleveland Police, he has been verbally racially abused around 30-40 times, and physically assaulted once, which he says is a fairly low number when compared to other colleagues.

Omair became Chair of the Race Equality Network in October 2024 and is passionate about ensuring the voices of ethnic minority officers in the force are listened to. He is pleased that Cleveland Police Federation is backing the Stop Racism Against Police campaign and hopes more can be done to encourage officers to report hate crime and for people to feel supported.

He said: “It's all about working together for the right reasons, officers being listened to and things acted upon. It’s about trust-building.”

Omair said of his experience of racial abuse: “I’m not on the frontline anymore, as my role has changed, but this is where many of these incidents occur because you’re dealing with challenging people.

“I enjoy my overtime and custody is one of the environments I work in where I encounter such individuals. When detained parties are frustrated or feel things aren’t going their way, they often direct that anger at me and unfortunately, on some occasions, that anger becomes racial abuse, which makes it far more personal than anything generic.

“There are specific incidents that stand out from when I was on the frontline. It does stick with you, definitely. Thankfully, it's only ever been physical on one occasion, which was last year, and that was the only time I've ever been assaulted at work. However, I can’t say the same for other police officers who have been physically assaulted numerous times, so I’m quite grateful in that regard.

“I'm quite a resilient person and I'm realistic. I'm from a South Asian background and a I’m a police officer so I’m going to get racial abuse because of how I look. It's just knowing to not react to it and deal with it in an appropriate way by seeking prosecutions against those people.”

Omair said that previously he hadn’t always reported hate incidents because he didn’t want to burden colleagues with extra work, despite his colleagues insisting this wasn’t the case. But he realised, after guidance from several colleagues, that he was a representative of his community and if he didn’t report hate incidents, people would think it was acceptable to be racist to the general public if they have got away with doing it to a police officer.
He said: “That put it into perspective for me. Ever since then, I've reported it, no matter how insignificant it may seem. Overall, Cleveland Police is a really supportive organisation. I think because it's a very small force, there is a good sense of community, so we all get on with each other and all look out for each other.”

He encouraged fellow members of the Race Equality Network to report hate incidents too, saying: “I think many officers do report them, but some stop reporting or just don't bother, purely because they feel let down by either the prosecution process or investigate/welfare process.

“I think there's been times where some cops have felt let down because of the investigative/welfare process, but it's just education and teaching people the seriousness of it.

“Some people who are not from an ethnic minority and not by any fault of their own, can’t appreciate the impact hate crime has on those from ethnic minorities. But ultimately, we're police officers, we're professionals, so that conversation can happen to make each other understand so you can get through to each other in the right way and that paves the way to have more constructive and educational conversations around it.”

Omair said he has received good welfare support from the force, but is aware of other colleagues who haven’t had the best experiences.

He said since taking over as Chair of the Race Equality Network, he has made recommendations to senior leaders and the Federation, who are both actively listening and putting more support mechanisms in place.

He explained: “Things are progressing positively, and the Chief Constable supports the work of the Race Equality Network as well and recognises the unique challenges it’s members face.”

Omair said his day job as Neighbourhood Engagement Constable complements his role as chair of the Race Equality Network.

He said: “We identify community groups with protected characteristics, be they elderly or vulnerable, different races or religions, refugees or asylum seekers, LGBTQ+, disability or youth groups, and we'll embed ourselves into them and build the link between them and the police.

“We’re involved in several events throughout the year and always raise awareness in a positive light when it comes to Black History Month, South Asian Heritage Month, Ramadan and many other cultural/religious events.

“It's an invaluable role and that external engagement's important, because it shows that wider ethnic minority community that there are people in the force from different ethnic minorities. It breaks down the barriers for those who might initially feel uncomfortable, but then seeing someone like them in the police, making it easier for them to approach us and challenging the misconceptions held about the police.”