Firsts in the Force

BHM looks back at some of the people who lead the way for ethnic minorities in UK police forces

John Kent � the First Black Police Officer - 1837
Norwell Roberts is known in the history books as the first black police officer in the UK after joining the Metropolitan Police in 1966. Roberts had a 30-year career with the Met, rising to the rank of detective sergeant.

However a recent BBC film revealed that PC John Kent beat his record, as the son of a Caribbean slave who joined the police force in 1837.

John Kent�s father, Thomas Kent, was brought to work on the estate of a Cumberland landowner returning from duty with the colonial civil service in the West Indies. His son was PC John Kent, who worked in Carlisle from 1837.

The surname Thomas adopted was in recognition of the county where he landed late in the 18th century. John was born near Carlisle around 1795.

A black figure was a rare sight in that corner of north-west England at the time and even before he joined the police Mr Kent would attract crowds as he worked laying pavements for the city corporation.

Constabularies were formally established in 1835 by the Home Secretary of the day, Robert Peel, although Carlisle had already had a unit of around 20 officers paid through public subscription for 10 years.

Bob Lowther, a former detective superintendent who has researched the history of the old Carlisle City Constabulary, traced Mr Kent through police records. He first appears as a, "supernumerary constable'' or probationer, joining on 17 August 1837. He was made a permanent constable on 26 October.

In 1841, he was in the thick of the action when a constable was murdered by a blow to the head as an election crowd got out of hand in the city centre and overwhelmed the Chief Constable and about eight of his officers. It is recorded that PC Kent gave evidence against the accused at Carlisle Assizes.

Known across the city as "Black Kent", he was clearly a valuable member of the force. His obituaries tell how he was so well known that a generation of Carlisle children were brought up to fear him.

The National Black Police Association (NBPA) attaches huge significance to the discovery of his career, which it says is totally unexpected.

"The significance is that while we had people of colour joining that far back, it took until 2003 before we had the first black chief constable [Kent's Mike Fuller]," said David McFarlane, NBPA's national co-ordinator. PC Kent's career did not end on the same high note as Detective Sergeant Roberts, who received the Queen's Police Medal for his 30 years of service.

He was sacked after just seven years with the Carlisle constabulary for being drunk on duty - a common occurrence among officers at the time. A lack of clean drinking water in the city is often blamed for excessive beer consumption. The young officer was duly disciplined and his services were dispensed with on 12 December 1844.

For more information see www.news.independent.co.uk

Sislin Fay Allen – Britain’s first black policewoman
In 1968, Sislin Fay Allen, a nurse at Croydon’s Queens Hospital, became Britain’s first Black policewoman. “On the selection day there were so many people there, the hall was filled with the young men. There were ten women and I was the only Black person.” After taking a set of exams and a stringent medical, Sislin Allen was told she had passed and would start work at Croydon’s Fell Road Police Station. “I can remember one friend said, `Oh they wouldn’t accept you, they don’t accept Black people in the force’, and so I said `Well my dear, I’ve got news for you’ and I showed her the letter.

“The first day on the beat in Croydon was daunting, but it wasn’t too bad because I went out with an officer. People were curious to see a Black woman there in uniform walking up and down, but I had no problem at all, not even from the public. On the day I joined I nearly broke a leg trying to run away from reporters. I realised then that I was a history maker. But I didn’t set out to make history, I just wanted a change of direction.”

Mohammed ‘Mo’ Shafiq
Mohammed ‘Mo’ Shafiq was the first Asian police officer for the Lancashire Constabulary and Greater Manchester Police. Originally serving in the Bolton area, having joined the Lancashire Police in 1973. Transferring a year later to the newly formed Greater Manchester Police. He reached the rank of Detective Inspector and retired after 30 years service.

Chief Constable Mike Fuller - Britain’s first black Chief Constable
Britain’s first black Chief Constable was Mike Fuller, was appointed head of the Kent force.

Previously Deputy Assistant Commissioner with Scotland Yard, Fuller was outspoken on drugs and the glamorising of guns through music, film and TV adverts. Fullerbegan his career as a Met cadet in 1975 before joining the Special Branch as a uniformed officer. He later became a detective chief inspector and was credited with an innovative scheme to combat burglary. Fuller went on to join the Met’s racist and violent crime offences force after the Macpherson report accused the Met of ‘institutional racism’ over the Stephen Lawrence case.

In May 2001 he was promoted to Deputy Assistant Commissioner, the fourth highest rank in the Met. At the time he said: ‘I think it is a brave step by the Met. It is breaking new ground. The perception of the glass ceiling is finally being broken.’

He was then made head of Operation Trident, the squad set up to target gun crime.

Jackie Burnett – first black police woman in Wales
Jackie Burnett became the first black policewoman in Wales when she began her training at South Wales Police Headquarters before attending the Police College in Cwmbron.

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