'To Be Abused Because Of Your Race, Religion Or Ethnicity Is Unacceptable'

9 January 2026

“To be abused, to be targeted, to be physically assaulted because of the colour of your skin, your religion or your ethnicity is just not acceptable.”

That was the reaction of Supt Paul French, Secretary for the Humberside branch of the Police Superintendents’ Association, to a recent Humberside Police Federation survey of minority ethnic officers and staff, which found that over 50% of respondents had experienced racial abuse while on duty.

Supt French is backing the Federation’s campaign to ‘Protect The Protectors: Stop Racism Against Police’. The campaign has heard from police staff who have been verbally abused in the control room, and officers who have been racially abused when out on patrol.

Supt French said that racially motivated abuse and attacks were “abhorrent” and that senior officers were committed to tackling hate crime against the people in their organisation.

He said: “Police officers are just doing their job. The reality is that if those people who are committing offences ever needed help and called 999, our officers would drop everything to run towards those individuals to help them.

“Policing in this modern age is complex and challenging, and then to be abused, to be targeted, to be physically assaulted because of the colour of your skin, your religion or your ethnicity is just not acceptable.

“We’ve also been hearing stories about officers going home to their families after these incidents, and recognising that the impact is, in some cases, really long-lasting. It's essential that we stand united on not tolerating this type of abuse.

“We know how hard officers are working in Humberside. We're extremely proud we have some of the best response times and some of the highest arrest rates in the country. We bring more offenders to justice than many other forces in the country. And it is our hard working and committed officers and staff who are at the sharp end, delivering this day in and day out - they should be really proud of the work they deliver.

“They're working in extremely complex situations and delivering exceptional outcomes for our communities across the board. To then be targeted by the community they work for, for just being who they are, is just not right. It needs to stop – and this is our support to the Federation to say we will not tolerate this type of behaviour towards our colleagues.”

Supt French said if a racial abuse incident is reported, someone from the leadership team will get in touch with the person affected: “We will listen to their experience, ask about the support that was provided at the time and any additional support that's needed subsequently, and we'll work to make sure that's provided.

“My colleagues and I want to ensure that we are providing the best possible support to those officers – it's really important.”

He continued: “My expectation is that any hate crime against officers would be recorded and positive action would be taken at the earliest opportunity, and in cases where it's witnessed by colleagues that they step forward and provide support to their peers.

“We want to treat these cases in exactly the same way that we would an officer who’s been physically abused while on duty. We can then put that to the court with the best possible evidence and hope that the Criminal Justice System follows through and treats those incidents with the severity they deserve.”

Supt French added: “As senior leaders in policing, working for our people is vital. We work for them, not the other way around. It's moments like this, when officers are being abused just because of who they are, that we must ensure that people are feeling supported, not only at the immediate moment but subsequently, and that we do everything we can to make that not acceptable socially within our communities.

“We will stand side by side across policing to ensure that this problem is tackled, that those responsible are held to account, and that those that are targeted are supported – because it's just not acceptable.”