'Time To Hold Perpetrators Of Hate Crime To Account'

1 October 2026

Hate crimes against officers must be recorded in exactly the same way as physical assaults, the Chair of Merseyside Police Federation has said, as he backed the ‘Protect The Protectors: Stop Racism Against Police’ campaign.

Across the UK, at least 5,355 hate crimes – including 80 in Merseyside – were reported to have been committed against officers in the financial year 2025-26, a recent Freedom of Information request found.

Worryingly, Merseyside Police has seen a 21% rise in hate crimes against its officers compared with the previous year. In addition, the true national figure is likely to be much higher, as 13 forces were unable to provide data.

Humberside Police Federation started the campaign ‘Protect The Protectors: Stop Racism Against Police’ in order to collect data on the scale of the issue, raise awareness of what the police are facing, do more to protect officers and staff, and ensure offenders are dealt with appropriately.

Chris McGlade, Chair of Merseyside Police Federation, has lent his support to the campaign. He said he was proud of the work his force was already doing in supporting officers through Op Hampshire, adding: “For me, this is about keeping that momentum going and ultimately making sure that all hate crimes are recorded in exactly the same way as a physical crime against an officer.

“And equally, making sure that those who are responsible for it are held to account because, sadly, the statistics seem to show us that the deterrent isn't where it needs to be, and hate crime against police officers is continuing, even rising.”

Humberside Police Federation’s research found that some officers who have been a victim of a hate crime say they are reluctant to report it, because they don’t want to be seen as ‘difficult’ or to make more work for their colleagues.

Chris urged: “Please don't take that approach, please don’t think: ‘That's just part of the job, sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't.’ It's absolutely unacceptable. We’ll take a stand with you. We're here to support you, and the force will support you.

“No one should come into the workplace and be targeted as a result of their race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. Police officers are humans who come in to work to protect our communities, not to be abused, and the impact these crimes have cannot be understated, this is why we need to stamp it out. If we're all in it together, hopefully it will send a clear message to those individuals who think it's acceptable to target people because of the colour of their skin.”

He also encouraged officers to step in when they witnessed a colleague being racially abused: “Don't wait. When it comes to members of the public, we'd be very quick to step in. But when it’s a colleague, sometimes people think: ‘Do we want to highlight this, how is my colleague feeling about being abused in this way?’. More often than not, they want someone to step in.

“So step in early, show that support, particularly in custody suites, which is where we often see officers being abused. Offenders seem to become braver once they're in a custody suite in relation to the behaviour that they think is acceptable; they feel they can say things to police officers that perhaps they wouldn't if they were still out on the streets.”

Chris reassured Merseyside Police officers who had been racially abused that support was available: “We have an assault scrutiny panel, where we review all assaults, and that includes hate crime. That's about ensuring that the supervisory support, Occupational Health support and Federation support is in place.

“But it's also about ensuring that those officers who were present step up, that the evidence is there, people are completing statements. That we're supporting our colleagues and bringing these offenders to justice to send that clear message. Let's stamp this out.”