'Appalling' Racist Abuse Against Officers Must Stop

30 June 2026

Sussex Police Federation is backing the ‘Protect The Protectors: Stop Racism Against Police’ campaign, as it emerged that 812 hate crimes were recorded against Sussex officers in the past three years.

Across the UK, more than 16,000 hate crimes were committed against officers in the same period, a recent Freedom of Information (FOI) request found. However, the true figure is likely to be much higher – even close to double – as another 21 forces were unable to provide data.

In 2025-26 alone, Sussex Police recorded 259 hate crimes against its officers, which was the fourth highest among all the forces that reported.

In addition, many officers do not report racial abuse incidents. The campaign ‘Protect The Protectors: Stop Racism Against Police’ was set up by Humberside Police Federation Chair Lee Sims after he found that 50% of his force’s minority ethnic officers and police staff had experienced racial abuse while on duty, yet some had not reported it. Reasons for not reporting varied from not wanting to be seen as difficult, to not believing the issue would be dealt with seriously.

The campaign 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.

Sussex Police Federation Chair Raffaele Cioffi said being racially abused just for doing your job was “simply appalling”. He said: “Every assault on a police officer is horrendous and it is unacceptable that a police officer is assaulted every 10 minutes in the UK. But we have found that officers from an ethnic minority background are being targeted for assaults and abuse simply because of the colour of their skin.

“These officers are going out to support the public, and can find themselves in a position where they are being abused because of the colour of their skin or their religious beliefs.

“They need support, and we also need to highlight this issue to the public, and seek legislative change in how the offenders are dealt with in the court system.

“Last year we recorded the fourth highest figure in the country for hate crimes against our officers and staff, and that's not a figure to be proud of. Of course it’s positive that we are recording these figures at all. But it's something that needs to be addressed, and there needs to be more legislation for judges and magistrates to see racial abuse as an aggravating factor when sentencing individuals who have abused our officers.

“Racially abusing police officers is not acceptable at all. The Office of Constable is there to protect members of the public, and no matter what ethnicity that officer may be, they do the role that they have been employed to do, to serve the public. And to be racially abused for that is simply appalling.”

Raffaele urged officers who witness their colleagues being racially abused to “make sure that it's dealt with robustly and appropriately”.

He said: “Your colleagues might have fatigue if they are the victims of this language, but you need to step forward and support your colleagues and make sure they are treated as the victims of crime that they are. There is no space for it whatsoever.

“We need to be able to see the true figures of what's going on and how prevalent it is in society, because it is only through statistical data that we can start pressuring for change in sentencing guidelines or legislation. If that isn't reported or recorded, then we are left in a position where we just simply don't know.

Raffaele encouraged any officer who needed extra support to contact the Federation.