West Midlands Police Federation Bravery Awards: 2025 Sam Hughes Inspiration in Policing Awards winner

9 January 2025

A West Midlands Police Federation member who has faced horrific racial abuse on the beat is drawing on her experiences to support colleagues in similar situations.

PC Zara Basharat has been subjected to racial slurs, abuse and assaults on at least 41 occasions during her five-year career, which has been spent mainly on response in Sandwell.

Zara said: “Officers in general face abuse all the time, but ethnic minority officers get it more.

“I’m female, I’m South Asian, I wear a headscarf, and some see me as an easy target.

PC Zara Basharat.

“I’ve already been racially abused twice this year by members of the public – it happens too often.

“My experiences are not the only ones. There are so many officers that face it day in, day out.”

At the very worst, attacks included having her hijab pulled off, which she proudly wears as a Muslim woman.

Headscarf

She has been called the ‘P’ word countless times, has been told to ‘go back to your prayer mat’ and has even had threats made to burn her headscarf.

“I have faced abuse even in my own community,” Zara said. “I have been labelled a ‘traitor’ and been subject to harassment, and have also been videoed and posted online while on deployment for the pro-Palestinian protests.

“There was so much hate and resentment towards me, which did upset me.”

Zara is using her experience as a frontline officer to try to improve support for colleagues who have been racially assaulted or abused.

It includes developing a resilience programme, which will be focused on improving the way supervisors and the organisation support colleagues who are subject to abuse at work.

Zara is working with the Force’s Black and Asian Police Association on the programme and has had support from its chair, Chief Inspector Chris Grandison.

Network

“He has really motivated me to keep going,” she said.

“The purpose of the programme is to help officers to build their resilience, to expand it and grow, as well as to build a network and make meaningful connections between officers and offer that support to each other.”

Zara has also met with the Force’s wellbeing lead Sophie Petrie to provide feedback about the lack of diversity in the TRiM (trauma risk management) practitioners. In particular, the benefits of being able to speak to colleagues from similar backgrounds who would be able to better understand and empathise with her situation.

Zara has shared her experiences of the policing of the Palestine protest with the Gold Commander, which has led to learning being shared with senior leaders.

And now her work has been recognised with the Sam Hughes Inspiration in Policing Bravery Award.

The award, which is supported by the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, will be presented at the West Midlands Police Federation Bravery Awards.

The awards evening is supported by Slater and Gordon lawyers and will be held in Birmingham on Thursday 30 January.

Nominated

Zara was nominated by Chief Superintendent Kim Madill, who Zara said ‘has always been very supportive’

She added: “As police officers we don’t get recognition often but when we do, it’s a nice feeling, especially coming from the senior leadership team, and them recognising their staff and what they go through.”

Zara added: “But while it is nice to receive, we don’t do it for awards.

“A quote that resonates with me is from Ghandi, who said ‘be the change you want to see in the world’.

“There is a gap in training and support for officers around physical and racial abuse during frontline duties.

“The support needs to be consistent from the first assault onwards. If the wellbeing support is not right from the beginning, this may have a detrimental effect on an officer’s wellbeing.

“I believe this training is needed to help improve the way supervisors and the organisation support colleagues who face abuse. This may have a positive overall lasting impact on officer’s welfare and staff retention issue.”

Zara added: “It is so important to have a diverse police force, as we need to have a police force that represents the community that we serve.”