Being a black police woman in 1983
It was my first Christmas at my first police station, Vine Street in the West End. At that time, I was residing in the Police Section House Trenchard in the heart of Soho.
The section house had organised a Christmas party, and officers from the surrounding districts were invited.
My team was off that day, so most of us were at the party. I was dancing alongside one of my colleagues, and when the record finished, I walked off the dance area to sit down.
As I sat down, I realised that my colleague was still on the dance floor. Suddenly the dance area seemed to be busier than normal, and the atmosphere had changed. The section house warden appeared out of the crowd. He was visibly upset. Before I could ask him anything, he told me to stay where I was. I insisted that he told me what was going on.
I learnt that a DC from Holborn had called my colleague an N. lover. I had no words for this revelation; I was angry but not as mad as my team. All the activity on the dance floor was Vine Street and Holborn squaring up to each other.
From that day on, I knew my team had my back.
Thankfully policing has come a long way since then but of course there is still more to do. Policing and making a difference was very important to me, so I stayed despite my objectors. In fact, I served for 32 years.
Policing is so much more than just a job, I worked hard within all of my policing roles to educate people and challenge their misconceptions, biases and outright prejudices at times both as a woman and a woman of colour.
I have seen the good the bad and the ugly within policing but what I can say for sure is that by the end of my career the bad and the ugly were far fewer than when I joined.
By joining the police as a someone from a black Asian or minority ethnic background you are continuing to drive change from the inside as well as doing one of the most rewarding jobs in the world.