'We Have A Part To Play As Senior Leaders'

18 September 2026

The Police Superintendents’ Association (PSA) is backing the ‘Protect The Protectors: Stop Racism Against Police’ campaign, saying “we have a part to play as senior leaders”.

At least 5,355 hate crimes were committed against UK officers in the financial year 2025-26, a recent Freedom of Information request found. However, the true figure is likely to be much higher, as 13 forces were unable to provide data.

Nick Smart, President of the Police Superintendents’ Association (PSA), said: “It's really important that PSA gets involved in this campaign – it's the right thing to do and we have a part to play as senior leaders. It's our staff who are going out there, doing the hard yards, and coming across individuals who are racially abusive to them.

“At this moment in time, different forces record [racial abuse] in different ways. As senior leaders, we want to know what our staff are dealing with, but we also have a moral obligation to look after their welfare, and it's really difficult to do that if it's inconsistently recorded. We don't have that full picture of data so that we can help them with their welfare, highlight the problem and hopefully rectify it.”

Nick said there was often a culture in policing of not reporting issues, because officers didn’t want to be seen as a victim, or burden colleagues with extra work.

He said: “Superintendents are just as guilty for not reporting their welfare issues at senior level. We hide it, often for fear of organisational repercussions, so we understand it. But it's really important that any officer or manager who sees one of their colleagues being abused reports it. Sweeping it under the carpet is not acceptable.

“I appreciate that it might mean paperwork, but if you don’t report it it's going to get worse. God forbid it gets to such a point that somebody cannot cope anymore. We really do have to shift the dial and make it culturally acceptable to talk about these things.”

Nick added that executive leaders in policing should be championing this campaign too and making it clear that the racist abuse of officers is unacceptable. He said: “They should encourage people to record racist abuse and actually follow the words with actions, because it's really easy to say something and do nothing about it.”

He continued: “My message to colleagues is: get actively involved, be that visible leader who does something. As leaders of units, departments, districts and boroughs, we have hundreds and hundreds of staff, and our job is to make sure that we give them an as safe as possible operating environment.

“If the data is not reflecting what's actually going on in the streets, then we may be putting people in danger for reasons of incomplete data, and that's not acceptable either. So what we're saying is, ‘If it's happening, let us know about it and let us help you. Let us do something about it’.”

The campaign ‘Protect The Protectors: Stop Racism Against Police’ was started by Humberside Police Federation and aims 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. It also aims to get an amendment to the Emergency Workers' Act to make racial abuse or assault against a police officer to be separately recordable, rather than under the umbrella term of hate crime. 

The mental health and wellbeing charity The Thin Blue Line UK is supporting the Protect The Protectors: Stop Racism Against Police campaign. To access free and confidential support, go to www.thinbluelineuk.org.uk/