Ever since I was a boy, it was my dream to become a policeman. Growing up in Toxteth, Liverpool, amid the riots of the 1980s, it must have seemed crazy: black gay scousers from working-class estates didn’t go into the police. I joined Greater Manchester police three months after 9/11. From training, through to my…
I sit here pondering on the life I had. For 11 years I served as a police officer in Britain, firstly in Manchester and then in London. After my experiences of racism and homophobia in the force, and falling ill with depression because of them, I was forced out of my job as a detective. My life fell apart.…
Ever since I was a young black boy in Liverpool, I dreamt of becoming blue. Years later, I would fulfil my childhood dream and become a police officer in Britain. But as a black cop who served in both the north and south of England, the challenges I faced because of my colour were unpleasant…
Like so many around the world, I felt deep pain and anger watching the killing of George Floyd. These feelings remain. Watching George calling out for his mother, telling Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin who had his knee on his neck, ‘I can’t breathe’ before his eyes closed was a truly horrific experience. It was a…
Three months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York, on a cold December morning, I reported for duty at GMP’s training school in Bury, a looming brick structure with long iron gates. At twenty-three years old, with my recently issued uniform in bags, I was about to cross the threshold of the Sedgley Park…
I was born in Liverpool in 1978, two months before my mum’s 42nd birthday. I was her 11th and last child – she had her own football team. Like all of my siblings, I was mixed race. My mother was white, with long brown hair and piercing blue eyes flecked with green. I was a…
Cressida Dick, the Commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police, has sensationally stated that the police force is no longer institutionally racist. As a black former police officer, I’d like to say I’m surprised by these comments, which I disagree with entirely, but sadly I’m not. Since her appointment, it has been clear that Dick was never going…
It’s the time of year when the streets of central London are fluttering with rainbow flags for Pride, but despite the great weather, many like me won’t be joining the parade. As a black gay man, I’ve just never felt part of it. Pride in London claims this year will be its “most diverse” parade yet, though…
The case of Shana Grice, the 19-year-old stalking victim who was fined by Sussex Police for wasting their time before being murdered by her ex-boyfriend, makes for disturbing reading. As a man, I do not know what it is like to be hounded relentlessly as a woman. But as a black gay man, and as a former detective,…
In the London Borough of Islington where I live – one of the capital’s richest and poorest places – another young life has been lost to violence on Britain’s streets. Knife crime is now a widespread social problem, with an 8 per cent increase reported across England and Wales within the past decade, and a 50 per cent increase in London in just…
By now, more than 60,000 people have watched a video showing Ohio police officer Peter Casuccio lecturing two young black boys about gun safety. He had stopped them due to a police report that one of the boys was in possession of a gun, but the officer discovered the 11-year old boy was carrying a BB gun.…
The news that the government could extend stop and search powers to allow police officers to search for acid, drones and laser pointers has been welcomed by many. I’m mindful of the changes to the “reasonable grounds” needed to stop and search individuals. Stop and search and its disproportionate use on black, Asian and minority ethnic Britons was a subject of contention during my decade-long policing…
A few months ago I had a meeting with two BBC producers about a new television series called Queer Britain. I was invited to the meeting after various communication to talk about intersectionality, like being both black and gay. I initially thought the series was going to be truly diverse, but left the chat somewhat puzzled. The producers contacted me to…
On Monday, I was on a panel at the Royal Society of Arts about racism within the LGBT+ community. The other speakers and I were given the opportunity to talk freely, before taking part in a Q&A session. I didn’t want to waffle so cut straight to answering the four questions provided to the panelists and audience…
Since his murder, I’ve not publicly commented on the passing of PC Keith Palmer for a lot of reasons – one being my own history with the Metropolitan Police. But today I want to make it clear: PC Palmer died a hero. He died as an exemplar of everything I advocate in a positive police force: officers doing their job…
It’s hard to believe that eight years have flown by, eight years of Barack Obama’s presidency. For the same amount of time he has been in office, I have been fighting racism and homophobia within the police. I’ve realised there comes a point in our lives when we have to move on from things that…