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The Future is Bright –<br />
the Future is <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands<br />
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association
2
The Future is Bright –<br />
the Future is <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands<br />
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association<br />
Contents<br />
Foreword 4<br />
Introduction 5<br />
The Beginning 6<br />
Creation of West Midlands Police <strong>BAPA</strong> 14<br />
Founder Members and Early Influencers 16<br />
Later BME progression in West Midlands Police 25<br />
The Current Executive Committee 28<br />
The Future 32<br />
With Thanks 35<br />
Achievements in West Midlands Police 36<br />
Awards 37<br />
3
Foreword<br />
‘I want to work in a diverse team’<br />
This year we celebrate 50 years since the first BME<br />
officer joined the police service in the West Midlands<br />
and 20 years since the launch of WMP Black and Asian<br />
Police Association (BPA), one of the first in the UK.<br />
On the 16th March 1966 Mohamed Yusuf Daar became<br />
the first BME police officer in the West Midlands when<br />
he joined what was then Coventry City Police.<br />
On the 1st January 1996 black officers and support staff met for the first time<br />
to explore their reality in the Police service and to share openly their feelings<br />
and experiences. They saw the need to address the high number of black<br />
officers leaving the service and from this an informal social network was<br />
established. The following 12 months saw the BPA go from strength to<br />
strength. On the 1st August 1997 the West Midlands BPA was formally<br />
launched in recognition of its achievements by the Chief Constable and the<br />
Lord Mayor of Birmingham.<br />
Today West Midlands Police is engaged in an ambitious programme of change.<br />
It is one that seeks to make us a modern service with traditional values. Those<br />
values echo the vision of Peel’s 1829 policing principles: the police are the<br />
public and the public are the police and most importantly the role of the<br />
police to secure public favour by "A ready offering of individual service and<br />
friendship to all members of society without regard to their race or social<br />
standing". Our new values are clear. We want to work in a diverse team and to<br />
challenge unreasonable and discriminatory behaviour.<br />
In so many ways we can adopt these values and pursue a stronger agenda on<br />
fairness and equality because of the struggle of our diverse staff. They stepped<br />
forward to play an active part in policing. In many cases they have faced<br />
barriers and discrimination. They have certainly powerfully advocated for<br />
fairer policing to all communities. I think those efforts are bearing fruit.<br />
I would like to express my sincere thanks to the people in this book and also to<br />
all Black and Asian officers and staff past and present who continually display<br />
strength, courage and compassion. They have made and continue to make<br />
West Midlands Police an organisation I am proud to lead as Chief Constable.<br />
Chief Constable David Thompson QPM<br />
West Midlands Police<br />
4
The Future is Bright –<br />
the Future is <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands<br />
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association<br />
Introduction<br />
I am fully committed to make West Midlands Police look<br />
more like the communities it serves. In addition to<br />
recruiting officers and staff from more diverse<br />
backgrounds, that also means improving the retention<br />
and the progression prospects for people from BME<br />
backgrounds.<br />
Over the last 20 years <strong>BAPA</strong> has been at the forefront of<br />
that work. <strong>BAPA</strong> has not just challenged the force, but has<br />
also put its policies into action through support and mentoring programmes.<br />
They have not only encouraged new recruits, but given others the confidence<br />
to work their way up through the organisation. <strong>BAPA</strong> will also play a<br />
significant role in helping to ensure that the upcoming recruitment of over<br />
1,000 staff and officers is as diverse as possible.<br />
The challenges that some of our first BME officers faced shows us the distance<br />
we have travelled, but is also a reminder that there is much to do. West<br />
Midlands Police still have a long way to go and a lot of hard work ahead of us,<br />
but with the work of <strong>BAPA</strong> that journey is a little shorter.<br />
I would like to thank <strong>BAPA</strong> for its work over the last 20 years and look forward<br />
to continued success for the organisation.<br />
Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson<br />
5
The Beginning<br />
West Midlands Police was formed on April 1, 1974, with a strength of 5,282<br />
officers. It incorporated Birmingham City Police, West Midlands Constabulary<br />
(Dudley Borough Police, Walsall Borough Police, Wolverhampton Borough Police<br />
and Oldbury from Staffordshire County Constabulary), Coventry City Police,<br />
Solihull, Chelmsley Wood, Sutton Coldfield and Halesowen.<br />
Today, it is the second largest force in the country, covering 348 sq miles and a<br />
population of over 2.8 million. 1<br />
1966 – On the 16th March 1966 Mohamed<br />
Yusuf Daar (known as Jo) became the first<br />
BME police officer in the West Midlands when<br />
he joined what was then Coventry City Police.<br />
He was also the first Muslim police officer in<br />
the West Midlands.<br />
Young PC Daar on the front page of the<br />
Daily Mirror 2<br />
He was previously an Inspector in the<br />
British Colony of Tanganyika in East Africa.<br />
When Tanganyika attained independence,<br />
becoming Tanzania, Jo did not want to<br />
give up his British citizenship and so<br />
moved to England.<br />
Jo states he saw the Chief Constable of Coventry City Police<br />
on the TV speaking about how there would soon be ‘coloured’ police officers<br />
walking the streets. The next day he walked in to Little Park Street police station<br />
and enquired about a job. By the end of the day he had signed up. He was so<br />
excited about his new job he forgot to ask about the pay – as it turns out on £14<br />
a week he would earn half of his previous salary as a machine operator. When he<br />
was initially shown round the officer asked him if it was ok to call him ‘Mo’ – he<br />
said my name is Yusuf which in English is Joseph so call me ‘Jo’ and that was what<br />
he was known as by his colleagues.<br />
Jo recalls how he received letters from people all over the world – including one<br />
person in Mauritius who sent a letter addressed simply to PC Daar – England. It<br />
arrived with the Metropolitan Police Service who sent it on to him whilst on his<br />
training at Ryton<br />
1 https://www.west-midlands.police.uk/keeping-you-safe/about-us/<strong>history</strong>-of-the-force/index.aspx accessed 16/9/2016<br />
2 Daily Mirror – Wednesday March 16th 1966<br />
6
The Future is Bright –<br />
the Future is <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands<br />
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association<br />
Jo’s experience of policing in Tanganyika was very<br />
different to the UK – over there he was an Inspector at<br />
aged 18, in charge of two stations and managing all<br />
elements of a crime (e.g. initial report, investigation,<br />
prosecution etc). In Coventry he had to do a lot of publicity<br />
work, shaking hands and meeting people all the time<br />
because of his ethnicity. He saw great value in being able<br />
to support other young BME officers but he decided the<br />
rest of it was not for him so as soon as he had finished his<br />
probationary training, two years into his career with<br />
Coventry Police, he left. Whilst he said he experienced no<br />
racism, he did feel that his Muslim faith prevented him<br />
from rising through the ranks.<br />
PC Daar on the streets of Coventry- image courtesy of<br />
Alamy Ltd<br />
Mohamed Yunus Daar (Jo Daar’s brother) joined Coventry City Police in 1968.<br />
Yunus served 14 years then left to work with his brother. He also does not<br />
recall racism or negative experiences during his time in the police. He served<br />
through two amalgamations – the merger of Coventry with Warwickshire in<br />
1969 to make Warwickshire & Coventry Constabulary and the later merge of<br />
Coventry with Birmingham City Police, Dudley Borough, Wolverhampton<br />
Borough, Walsall Borough and parts of Staffordshire County Police to make<br />
West Midlands Police (WMP) in 1974. The only time he could recall his<br />
ethnicity being an issue was when he married<br />
a white colleague. Even then he only recalls<br />
gossip and it being a bit of a talking point.<br />
Yunus and Jo Daar (left to right) in 2016<br />
Yunus remembers one time being in the police<br />
van with his colleagues when they were<br />
talking about different communities,<br />
prejudices and the challenges faced by the<br />
mainly white police. He states everyone<br />
suddenly went quiet and he was worried that<br />
he said something wrong, when one of his<br />
colleagues said ‘Sorry Yunus, we kind of forgot<br />
you were here and there we are talking about<br />
racism and prejudice’. This incident in<br />
particular confirmed for him that colour did<br />
not matter. He treated everyone as a human<br />
being regardless of their race or ethnicity. He<br />
recalls he definitely felt like a part of his team<br />
and the wider policing family and he states<br />
neither his ethnicity nor his faith ever caused him a problem.<br />
7
By the time he left, Yunus states that as Inspector, most of his time was spent<br />
doing paperwork and he felt detached from operational policing. When his<br />
brother offered him a job and asked him to come and work with him, he decided<br />
to leave policing behind altogether, although his supervising officer did<br />
encourage him to take a break and consider returning.<br />
Yunus feels immense pride that his family were the first Asian police officers in<br />
the country, opening up the door for many others to follow. He also feels pride<br />
whenever he sees a high ranking Asian or black officer on the television, seeing<br />
how far the service has come in 50 years.<br />
1966 – Ralph Ramadhar became the first black officer in Birmingham. In<br />
December 1970 he became the first black sergeant in the country,<br />
eventually retiring from the force in September 1977 to return to<br />
Trinidad.<br />
PC Ralph Ramadhar<br />
When his appointment was announced Jo Daar sent him a letter of<br />
support and the two of them met up to share their experiences and<br />
support each other. Jo recalls they went to an Indian restaurant in<br />
Digbeth and they almost got thrown out because the waiter perceived<br />
that Ralph had been rude to him!<br />
He initially experienced quite a bit of racism – contrary to the experiences<br />
of Jo Daar. Within two weeks of The Times reporting that he was to<br />
become Birmingham’s first ‘West Indian’ policeman, it was reported that<br />
the head of the National Socialist Movement had written to Ralph,<br />
advising that he ‘think again’ about his career prospects. 3<br />
The father-of-two from Cotteridge won over the public through his work<br />
in the community - which included supporting young people and his<br />
involvement with his local church. His skills as a police officer also shone through<br />
including his apprehension of a criminal while on holiday in Great Yarmouth.<br />
His wife Nelly said: "He was very pro-active and wanted to improve himself. He<br />
had some difficulties - there was racism. There were slogans painted outside our<br />
house saying 'no black officers.' But he was determined and he became friends<br />
with the people. The racism stopped and he built up respect. Ralph joined the<br />
police force to be an officer first and foremost and he had no idea he would be<br />
the first black officer. He enjoyed his work immensely and did the best to bring<br />
everyone together.<br />
He was a big advocate of recruitment, I think he would believe there is more to<br />
do but he would be proud there are more ethnic minority officers now.<br />
8<br />
3 The Times, 5th August 1966: 10, quoted in<br />
Policing, Race and Racism – Michael Rowe
The Future is Bright –<br />
the Future is <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands<br />
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association<br />
An early assessment of his performance as a sergeant shows that he<br />
was a strong leader and able to deal with difficult situations such as<br />
being a newcomer sergeant onto an already established shift –<br />
something which any sergeant might struggle with, let alone the only<br />
non-white one on the force. The report indicates he handled the<br />
situation well and built up strong relationships<br />
with his constables, gaining their respect and<br />
trust.<br />
After returning to Trinidad, Ralph sadly<br />
passed away in 1987.<br />
Ralph’s widow Nell<br />
1968 – In July 1968 Herman Lokey became the first<br />
black special constable in Birmingham. In an article in<br />
the Birmingham Evening Mail in July 1968 he talked<br />
about how he wanted to be a ‘member of an active<br />
and useful organisation benefiting the community’.<br />
He said he was very proud to be the first immigrant<br />
special constable in Birmingham and he would ‘do<br />
his best to uphold the fine traditions of the service’.<br />
Special Constable Herman Lokey, 4 image courtesy<br />
of Mirrorpix<br />
1969 – Tariq Somra became the<br />
first Indian officer to join<br />
Birmingham City Police. Born in<br />
Kenya to a family with Pakistani<br />
heritage, he followed his father to<br />
Birmingham in 1966. Originally his father had been a reserve<br />
police officer in Kenya fighting Mau Mau terrorists and Tariq<br />
remembers the high esteem with which the British bobby was<br />
held in the community.<br />
PC Tariq Somra before he retired<br />
Tariq recalls initial struggles of racism where he received<br />
many jeers and negative comments from his colleagues and<br />
was left out of social activities like going to the pub at the<br />
end of a shift. He has spoken about working in Handsworth<br />
where he was largely accepted by the Asian community but<br />
many Afro-Caribbean community members saw him as a<br />
‘race-traitor’.<br />
4 Birmingham Evening Mail, July 1968<br />
5 Notes from a meeting of <strong>BAPA</strong> founders and current members 8th August 2016 at Tally Ho! Police Training Centre, Birmingham<br />
9
Tariq remembers when he was a serving officer the highest rank you could aspire<br />
to would probably be a Sergeant. He thinks the future looks pretty good, the<br />
more black and Asian Officers who have joined the service the better it will be for<br />
the whole of the community that we serve. ‘There’s still a stigma which is<br />
attached to the police service amongst the minority communities and that is an<br />
historical thing it always has been and I think it’s the same all round<br />
the world, but in this particular country there are people who are<br />
who are forward thinking who have visions which people in the<br />
past perhaps lacked. It is good that the organisation and <strong>BAPA</strong> can<br />
do a lot of good with the police service and edge it further forward<br />
as far as it can go’. 5<br />
He became the first Asian officer in the country to reach 30 years’<br />
service before retiring in 1999 after spending 8 years in the<br />
recruitment department for West Midlands Police. At the time, the<br />
force was credited with having the second highest number of<br />
ethnic minority officers in the country .<br />
In 2016, many years after his retirement, Tariq still plays cricket for<br />
West Midlands Police.<br />
Tariq Somra 2016<br />
1973 – Ramesh Kumar QPM became the first Asian officer in the West<br />
Midlands Constabulary after three years as a police cadet. His father<br />
was a Senior Police Officer in the Punjab Police, India so he had a<br />
positive perception of the police from a young age and always<br />
wanted to be a police officer.<br />
Ramesh Kumar<br />
He remembers arriving from India in 1965 not being able to speak,<br />
read or write English. However he pursued his ambition to join the<br />
police and whilst it was very hard, he eventually joined the regular<br />
officers. Ramesh was proud when both sons joined the police force.<br />
Anil was a regular officer for 10 years and Sunil was a Special<br />
Constable for 4 years.<br />
From an early stage in his service he was engaged in supporting fair<br />
play and equal opportunities for the few minority officers in the<br />
police service. From an international perspective he has been involved in building<br />
better links with overseas police in particular with India, hosting many Police<br />
Chiefs and delegates.<br />
5 Notes from a meeting of <strong>BAPA</strong> founders and current members 8th August 2016 at Tally Ho! Police Training Centre, Birmingham<br />
10
The Future is Bright –<br />
the Future is <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands<br />
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association<br />
He had a long and distinguished career, working in traffic, on<br />
motorbikes and in the murder squad where he received many<br />
commendations from the Chief Constable and various judges. In 1974<br />
he received the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award at Buckingham Palace<br />
from Prince Phillip. He received a Royal Humane Society Award for life<br />
saving in 1978 and in 2002 he was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal<br />
for Distinguished Police Services.<br />
Formation of West Midlands Police (1974)<br />
Ramesh Kumar QPM 2016<br />
1974 – Pauline Campbell-Moss became the first female BME officer in the<br />
West Midlands when she joined West Midlands Police as a cadet. She<br />
experienced a lot of difficulty because of her ethnicity, from members of the<br />
public who often referred to her as ‘the coloured girl’. In an article in The<br />
Voice from 8/11/2015 7 she refers to two incidents – one where she was<br />
threatened with youths with knives on a bus and one where she was actually<br />
bundled into the back of a car and had to escape by throwing herself out<br />
whilst the car was still moving.<br />
She left after three years to work with social services in Birmingham where she<br />
felt better able to support troubled youths.<br />
Pauline Campbell-Moss in 1974, seen at the front of her intake class<br />
7 http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/west-midlands-first-black-police-woman accessed 1/9/2016<br />
11
Also in 1974 special constable Balbir Singh Dhami joined WMP. He was born in<br />
India in 1946 and recalls the British Police being mentioned very regularly and<br />
says he always wanted to join them. In 1974 he was walking through Birmingham<br />
City Centre when he came across a colleague who happened to be working as a<br />
special constable. After finding out a bit more about the role of special constable<br />
he joined up and recalls the best 25 years of his life working in that capacity for<br />
WMP. He states if he was 18 once more he would do it all over again.<br />
1978 – Surjit Singh Sihota joined<br />
the force. Whilst he was not the<br />
first Sikh officer to join West<br />
Midlands Police he was the first to<br />
wear a turban. He completed 30<br />
years’ police service and retired in<br />
2008 at the rank of sergeant.<br />
Surjit Singh Sihota<br />
Creation of West Midlands<br />
Police <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
1993 – Murder of Stephen<br />
Lawrence. Following the racially<br />
motivated murder of Stephen<br />
Lawrence in 1993, the subsequent public enquiry in 1998 identified widespread<br />
racism in both the Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service. The<br />
enquiry has led to significant changes in attitudes towards racism and the police<br />
service, with key changes to policing policy being delivered. A number of our BME<br />
officers who joined in the 1990s have highlighted the Stephen Lawrence enquiry<br />
as a trigger for them wanting to join the police and affect change from within.<br />
1994 – In September 1994 the Metropolitan Black Police Association (BPA) was<br />
formed. The organisation was created in 1994 by Metropolitan Police<br />
Commissioner Sir Paul Condon, who declared that its formation was the only way<br />
forward in tackling the significant amounts of BME police officers and staff<br />
leaving police forces across the country. 8<br />
1996 – On the 1st January 1996 black officers and support staff met for the first<br />
time to explore their reality in the police service and to share openly their feelings<br />
and experiences. The basis of these discussions was to address the<br />
disproportionately high number of black officers leaving the service and from this<br />
an informal social network was established. The following 12 months saw <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
go from strength to strength frequently being called upon to participate in<br />
training conferences and address 'misconceptions within the black community'.<br />
Representatives attended all functions in their own time, without any financial<br />
support or formal recognition.<br />
12
The Future is Bright –<br />
the Future is <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands<br />
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association<br />
This year also saw the formation of the National Communication Network. 9<br />
The network consisted of BME staff members from different forces right across<br />
the country. Their motto was ‘One Voice, Strength in Unity’ and this remains<br />
the National Black Police Association (NBPA) motto.<br />
1997 – In 1997, 12 months after WM<strong>BAPA</strong> was created it was formally<br />
launched in recognition of its achievements by the Chief Constable and the<br />
Lord Mayor of Birmingham.<br />
Chief Constable Edward Crew officially<br />
launches <strong>BAPA</strong> at Tally Ho! with the Lord<br />
Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Sybil<br />
Spence, her consort Mr Dante Spence, PC<br />
Tariq Somra (<strong>BAPA</strong> Chair) and Insp Paul<br />
Lewin from the Equal Opportunities Unit<br />
1998 – Early in 1998 members of the<br />
National Communication Network met<br />
with RT Hon Jack Straw (then Home<br />
Secretary) to discuss the role of BPAs. He<br />
was very supportive and further<br />
meetings were held to discuss how to progress the associations. In November<br />
1998 the first interim executive committee was elected to launch the National<br />
Black Police Association. 10 The executive committee consisted of 14 members<br />
from 12 different police forces, as<br />
recollected by the <strong>history</strong> section of the<br />
NBPA. Daphne Christie became the WMP<br />
Police Staff rep and sat on<br />
the Interim Executive<br />
Committee. Andrea<br />
Reynolds was also on the<br />
Interim Executive and she<br />
was instrumental with the<br />
support of Chief<br />
Constable Edward Crew<br />
and the Home Secretary<br />
Jack Straw, in effectively<br />
launching the NBPA at<br />
the ICC.<br />
The Interim Executive Committee for the NBPA<br />
An early <strong>BAPA</strong> Annual Report<br />
13
1999 – This year saw the conference that officially launched the National Black<br />
Police Association with a major event being held at the International Conference<br />
Centre in Birmingham. Founding members of WM<strong>BAPA</strong> have talked about<br />
how overwhelming it was to see so much support for local and national<br />
BPAs.<br />
National Black Police Association logo<br />
2000 – During the early 2000s there was heightened suspicion around<br />
<strong>BAPA</strong> within the organisation and people didn’t want to publicise the<br />
fact they were members. Officers and staff outside of the organisation<br />
didn’t really understand what it was all about. There were many<br />
misconceptions around its aims and objectives and it was deemed divisive.<br />
It is fair to say that <strong>BAPA</strong> has not been universally welcomed within the service,<br />
although it has the full support of the Chief Constable and the goodwill of others.<br />
To the unenlightened, it has been seen as divisive, discriminatory and an attempt<br />
by black members to usurp the various functions of the unions and Police<br />
Federation. None of these held views could be further from the truth. The truth<br />
of the matter is, these views are exactly the reason why there is a crucial need for<br />
a Black Police Association.<br />
After suffering years of isolation, for which neither the service or staff<br />
associations, were able to cater fully for the unique needs of black members,<br />
<strong>BAPA</strong>’s function is one supplementing all the other support structures. In doing<br />
so, they also seek to forge closer links with the black community, creating a sense<br />
of real partnership which can only be for the benefit of the service as a whole.<br />
2007 – With Sergeant Winston Christie as Chair and with the support of the AMP,<br />
<strong>BAPA</strong> went from strength to strength and really started enhancing perspectives<br />
within the police service and affecting change in key policies that could improve<br />
the prospects of BME officers, wherever they had been disadvantaged.<br />
Membership criteria are open to serving officers or support staff from Afro<br />
Caribbean or Asian origin.<br />
<strong>BAPA</strong> recognises the existence of other black organisations within and outside the<br />
Criminal Justice System and is keen to work with these organisations for the<br />
benefit of all.<br />
Ramesh and Tariq (detailed above as some of the first BME officers in the<br />
Midlands) were key founding members of WM<strong>BAPA</strong>. Below are the stories of the<br />
other founder members of WM<strong>BAPA</strong> and early BME influencers in the force.<br />
8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Black_Police_Association_(United_Kingdom) access 1/9/2016<br />
9 http://www.nbpa.co.uk/about-us/<strong>history</strong>/ accessed 1/9/2016<br />
14
The Future is Bright –<br />
the Future is <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands<br />
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association<br />
Founder members and early influencers<br />
Stanford Will Bean joined WMP in 1975 and retired as a sergeant in 1999. He<br />
sadly died in 2007.<br />
Stan’s daughter Jennifer found a folder her father kept of his career<br />
achievements after he passed away - including his exemplary discharge<br />
certificate from the British Army. In this folder she found a copy of a report he<br />
had written to all Black and Asian police officers about the creation of a Black<br />
Police Association. The report is dated 29th November 1994.<br />
In the report, by way of introduction, Stan explained that he joined the force<br />
in 1975 aged 27, after completing 10 years exemplary military service. He<br />
explained that for all his service, it has been based in Birmingham (central &<br />
inner city). At 11 years’ service<br />
he was promoted to sergeant<br />
and posted to Queens Road. He<br />
then spent 6 years as a sergeant<br />
within the Community Service<br />
Department and then before he<br />
retired, the custody block at<br />
Steelhouse lane. He also<br />
explained that he had interest in<br />
working on the OSU and Scenes<br />
of Crime Department, but was<br />
unsuccessful in gaining<br />
attachments to those respective<br />
departments.<br />
Sergeant Stan Bean with Chief<br />
Constable Edward Crew<br />
In the report Stan stated ‘The<br />
police service has come a long way since 1975, but there is still room for<br />
improvement.’ He added ‘some of you might be reluctant to even<br />
contemplate forming a black police association in this force. Because of<br />
numerous reasons, for example you don’t want to be seen as a trouble maker,<br />
worried that joining an association would have a detrimental impact on career<br />
prospects.’<br />
In his report Stan recognised the difficulties of creating and launching such an<br />
association, as many black officers are apprehensive about socialising with<br />
each other or even mixing with the black community. He wrote ‘a positive<br />
attitude is required from you because Black and Asian officers’ experiences<br />
inside and outside the service are unique’.<br />
10 http://www.nbpa.co.uk/about-us/<strong>history</strong>/ accessed 1/9/2016<br />
15
Stan went on to explain the remit of the Black Police Association and reinforced<br />
that the association does not intend to replace statutory staff associations.<br />
He outlined the areas of the association would focus on-<br />
1. Support network<br />
2. Social network<br />
3. Equality of opportunity<br />
4. Police Community Relations<br />
5. Recruitment Policy<br />
6. WMP Policy development<br />
Stan also outlined goals he expected the association to achieve in its first year. He<br />
made sure <strong>BAPA</strong> had a voice and wasn’t afraid to challenge the force.<br />
Stan Bean loved sport - boxing, rugby, football & cricket. He played cricket for<br />
West Midlands Police and played for West Midlands<br />
Police Cricket Veterans. Since his death, every June a<br />
memorial cricket match is played between WMP Vets and<br />
Handsworth Park Cricket Club - held at alternate<br />
locations of Handsworth Park and Tally Ho! A team<br />
cricket photo hangs in the Tally Ho Social Club bar.<br />
On retiring from the police Stan continued to give back<br />
to the community. He was passionate about mentoring,<br />
supporting and developing young black boys. He worked<br />
at Wheelers Lane Boys School and latterly Holte School<br />
(2002-2006), before his illness took hold and he died in<br />
2007.<br />
The late Sergeant Stan Bean<br />
Paul Lewin, who joined the force in 1977 was an influential original<br />
member, bringing others together to start formal meetings. Tariq<br />
Somra was the first Chairman of the organisation and he remained in<br />
post until Paul Lewin took over in 1998. Other founding members<br />
included Mohammed Kiyani, Ramesh Kumar, Max Lewin, Matt Ward,<br />
Althea Rhodd, Andrea Reynolds, Marcia Ore, Daphne Christie, Karpaul<br />
Sihota, Kirk Dawes, Stan Bean, Shindo Barquer and Vicky Smith.<br />
Founding member Inspector Paul Lewin<br />
There was lots of secrecy around the early meetings – whilst people were grateful<br />
for the support, they didn’t necessarily want their colleagues knowing they were<br />
a member as they didn’t want a reputation as a trouble maker.<br />
Daphne recalls the early meetings being held informally in the Lloyd House<br />
canteen.<br />
16
The Future is Bright –<br />
the Future is <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands<br />
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association<br />
Founder members and current executive team at Tally Ho 2016 documenting<br />
the <strong>history</strong> of BME officers and WM<strong>BAPA</strong>.<br />
Back row left to right: Corinne Brazier, Verley Tyndale, Yunus Daar, T/Insp<br />
Winston Christie, Mohamed Yusuf Daar, PC Michelle Ugwueze, Chief Supt<br />
Matt Ward<br />
Middle row left to right: Tariq Somra, Mohammed Khalid Kiyani, Max Lewin,<br />
Vicky Smith, DC Marcia Francis<br />
Bottom row left to right: Sgt Audrey King, Insp Karen Geddes, Ramesh Kumar<br />
QPM, PC Andrea Reynolds, Althea Rhodd, Daphne Christie, Marcia Ore<br />
1976 – In October 1976 Althea Rhodd joined the force working as a member<br />
of police staff in recruitment. She had the offer of two jobs, one with West<br />
Midlands Police and the other with Birmingham City Council. She was offered<br />
a position with the police which she accepted. She recalls being one of only a<br />
handful of BME members of staff at the time. Eventually she was promoted to<br />
a senior police staff position of Business Manager and she was one of only<br />
three BME Business Managers out of 26 in total.<br />
She made a point of supporting other BME officers and staff and actively<br />
seeking them out. She would invite them to come to meetings where they<br />
could sit in her office, share problems and help each other. She remembers<br />
other people walking past and wondering what was going on.<br />
17
As one of the original members of <strong>BAPA</strong> she recalls initial meetings being poorly<br />
attended, with many not wanting to go for fear of reprisals. Even when meetings<br />
were held across the force area there were not many staff who were confident<br />
enough to attend. Althea eventually left WMP after almost 34 years with the<br />
force.<br />
Althea Rhodd<br />
Also in 1976, Kirk Dawes joined West Midlands Police. He served as a<br />
Detective Constable in a number of specialist roles across the<br />
Robbery Squad, Special Patrol Group and eventually the Drug Squad.<br />
After the publication of the McPherson report into the racially<br />
motivated murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993, Kirk moved into<br />
training other CID officers in issues of racial diversity issues. He<br />
became the WM<strong>BAPA</strong> Chair in 1998 and unfortunately had to leave<br />
policing in 2004 due to a lung condition.<br />
1982 – Mohammed Khalid Kiyani joined in<br />
1982 to make a difference in the community.<br />
He experienced many difficulties as a practicing<br />
Muslim. Neither the training centre nor the<br />
police service catered for dietary or religious<br />
needs of Muslims. He experienced many incidents of racism<br />
and discrimination from both within the organisation and<br />
from the members of the public. He felt that he and many<br />
other BME officers had to develop coping mechanisms in<br />
order to survive. He always wanted to affect change from<br />
within and he was one of a group of Asian officers who<br />
used to get together informally. The suggestion of setting<br />
up a formal group to support BME colleagues, from this<br />
group, was met with swift negative response from senior<br />
officers. At that time there was no appetite to tolerate any<br />
such organisation and the idea was put to rest until the<br />
later work of the Metropolitan Black Police Association<br />
became known in the mid-1990s. He was subsequently one<br />
of the founder members of West Midlands Police Black<br />
Police Association and he suggested the initial name<br />
change to be more inclusive to Asian officers, which was<br />
later adopted, leading to the WMP Black and Asian Police<br />
Association.<br />
Kirk Dawes<br />
18
The Future is Bright –<br />
the Future is <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands<br />
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association<br />
He worked in the recruitment department in 1985 and was part of a very<br />
successful recruiting campaign for WMP to increase the BME officer numbers.<br />
He also worked on many force committees and working groups to help bring<br />
about many changes internally and externally. Despite experiencing prejudice,<br />
racism and discrimination in the service from some people, he has also had the<br />
pleasure of working with some very fair-minded,<br />
committed and forward thinking people who helped to<br />
develop him at a professional level to work in various<br />
specialist areas and achieve promotion.<br />
Although he worked as a Temporary Detective Chief<br />
Inspector in Force CID for 18 months, his biggest regret was<br />
not getting through to higher ranks in order to make a<br />
bigger difference in influencing policing decisions that<br />
affect the communities. Despite all the difficulties, he does<br />
however feel a huge sense of satisfaction from the work he<br />
did, in particular that what he and fellow early BME<br />
officers went through was worth it to pave the way for<br />
new and future BME officers to follow. He states that it has<br />
been a pleasure to serve the diverse communities of West<br />
Midlands. There is no other job in the world that gives you<br />
such an experience in life and would recommend it to any<br />
young person thinking of joining the Police.<br />
Temporary Chief Inspector Mohammed Khalid Kiyani<br />
before his retirement<br />
Marcia Ore (nee Edwards) also joined the force in 1982. She was influenced by<br />
the 1981 Brixton riots and the recommendations in the Scarman report, and<br />
didn’t want to go into a stereotypical job of nursing, office or factory work.<br />
She promptly gave up her A levels, quit college and signed up. She recalls her<br />
early years being very challenging and the support of one BME officer in<br />
particular motivated her to keep going. That officer was Judy Clements (now<br />
OBE) who has since had a distinguished civil service career after spending 10<br />
years with West Midlands Police.<br />
Marcia recalls that in the very early days, black officers felt they couldn’t even<br />
acknowledge each other in the corridor, because it started conversations that<br />
they were getting together and conspiring. One event in particular has been<br />
recounted – where a few BME officers decided to go out socially together for<br />
a curry and personal letters were sent to officers to invite them. Senior officers<br />
became aware and it suddenly blew up into a massive incident with several<br />
officers being told off and deemed ‘troublemakers’.<br />
19
After joining <strong>BAPA</strong> at the request of Paul Lewin in<br />
1998 she eventually progressed on to the National<br />
BPA, taking up the portfolio of gender and sexual<br />
orientation. Together with another colleague from<br />
Leicestershire she organised the successful Women<br />
in the Shade conference in 2001 but later left the<br />
national group due to a lack of support. In 2003 she<br />
transferred to West Mercia Police where she retired<br />
as a Sergeant in 2012.<br />
Retired Sergeant Marcia Ore as a probationary PC<br />
in 1982<br />
Another BME officer who joined in 1982 and<br />
became heavily involved in early <strong>BAPA</strong> meetings<br />
was Karpaul Sihota. He states there were very few<br />
BME officers at this time and the only way they<br />
could support one another was to<br />
meet in secret in a pub as the<br />
organisation would not approve. Ethnic minority officers faced<br />
big challenges and often just sharing similar experiences would<br />
help them to remain focused and realise they were not alone in<br />
their experiences.<br />
One of the highlights of his career was becoming chair of <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
and being able to support colleagues, being a critical friend to<br />
the organisation and being able to influence policies and<br />
procedures.<br />
He states he also enjoyed working closely with communities. This<br />
often prevented disorder as officers were able to mediate with<br />
different groups.<br />
Karpaul retired in 2012 at the rank of Inspector.<br />
Karpaul Sihota<br />
1983 – Verley Tyndale joined WMP. After being strongly influenced by police TV<br />
programmes at the time, Verley joined to make a difference in his local<br />
community.<br />
He recalls that he didn’t experience any racism from the force at that time, even<br />
though he was the only black officer in his station, but members of the<br />
community were not always supportive. In particular, he recalls during the miners’<br />
strike being the only black officer amongst c20,000 officers who were deployed.<br />
20
The Future is Bright –<br />
the Future is <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands<br />
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association<br />
Despite passing his Sergeant and Inspector exams relatively early in his career<br />
(6 and 7 years respectively) it took him a while to secure promotion to these<br />
ranks – he did not become a substantive Inspector until 22 years into his<br />
service.<br />
He was instrumental in being the first officer to engage with a pirate radio<br />
station to seek witnesses in a<br />
murder investigation. He also<br />
played a key part in securing a<br />
number of difficult witnesses that<br />
were required at a murder trial in<br />
relation to black on black murders.<br />
He received a Chief Constables<br />
Commendation for his efforts.<br />
Verley left WMP after 30 years’<br />
service at the rank of Inspector<br />
when the A19 policy (requiring<br />
officers to retire at 30 years) was in<br />
place.<br />
Inspector Verley Tyndale with Chief<br />
Constable Sir Edward Crew<br />
Max Lewin also joined in 1983. He was the Social Secretary of <strong>BAPA</strong> and<br />
organised many of the social events that aimed to bring people from all<br />
backgrounds together. One particular thing about <strong>BAPA</strong> as an association is<br />
that its events have always been inclusive and they have never excluded<br />
anyone.<br />
Max recalls putting up an advert for a <strong>BAPA</strong> event when his<br />
colleagues saw him. Their attitude was quite negative towards the<br />
association and they used words to the effect of ‘we didn’t realise<br />
you were one of them – we thought you were ok’. This demonstrates<br />
the negative perceptions of <strong>BAPA</strong> that existed at the time. He took<br />
the opportunity to highlight how useful the events were for<br />
networking and connecting with colleagues and to demonstrate how<br />
inclusive the organisation was as the invite was open to all. He<br />
convinced his colleagues to come along and as it turned out the<br />
whole shift went, they had a great time and kept asking when the<br />
next one was!<br />
He retired in 2013 at the rank of Sergeant. He has returned to the<br />
force as a member of police staff working in Force Contact.<br />
Max Lewin<br />
21
1985 – Police staff member Daphne Christie joined<br />
the force as a temp recording injury and damage<br />
only RTC data. Almost two years later she was<br />
employed as a permanent member of staff. She<br />
now works within the Records Management team<br />
as an Information Assurance Officer.<br />
After initially being heavily involved in local and<br />
national <strong>BAPA</strong> activities she took a step back but<br />
recently got involved in helping to organise the<br />
very successful 2015 national <strong>BAPA</strong> conference held<br />
at Tally Ho! Police Training Centre in Birmingham.<br />
Daphne Christie with her brother Winston<br />
1987 – Shindo Barquer became the first Sikh woman to work for West Midlands<br />
Police. She joined at the age of 21 and worked her way up to ranks to her current<br />
rank of Chief Inspector. In 2010 she won the Chairman’s Award at the prestigious<br />
Asian Woman of Achievement awards after being nominated in the Public Sector<br />
category. In 2011 she won the Uniformed and Civil Service award at the Asian<br />
Achievers Awards.<br />
1988 – Audrey King joined WMP in October 1988. She wanted to be in a position<br />
to help people and recalls there was a big recruitment drive for BME officers. Her<br />
family had originally convinced her to obtain the qualifications to become a<br />
pharmacist but after starting work in an office and being horrified at the prospect<br />
of spending the next 40 years there, she became a special constable in Balsall<br />
Heath. She enjoyed it so much she went on to become a regular constable. She<br />
qualified for the rank of Sergeant after moving to the Major<br />
Fraud Unit in 2001 and after some time in an acting post left to<br />
join Leicestershire Police to gain a substantive Sergeant’s post.<br />
During the riots in 2006 she felt <strong>BAPA</strong> actively made a difference<br />
in the local community through work they were doing engaging<br />
with local church groups and they were able to deal with issues<br />
faced by the <strong>BAPA</strong> members.<br />
Audrey is still serving with Leicestershire Police and tries hard to<br />
mentor new BME officers and increase the numbers of BME<br />
officers within her force. She feels very strongly about existing<br />
officers doing all they can to improve things for the officers who<br />
will be following in their footsteps. She says it would be nice to<br />
get to a point where seeing high ranking female BME officers is<br />
not such a phenomenon.<br />
Sergeant Audrey King<br />
22
The Future is Bright –<br />
the Future is <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands<br />
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association<br />
Andrea Reynolds joined West Midlands Police in 1994.<br />
After a very difficult and traumatic introduction to<br />
policing with innumerable negative experiences Andrea<br />
proffered her resignation after successful completion of<br />
her probationary period. She was eventually persuaded<br />
to return by ACC Wardle who investigated her case.<br />
PC Andrea Reynolds<br />
Andrea was one of the<br />
founder members of<br />
<strong>BAPA</strong> and as part of the<br />
committee she<br />
represented them in a Public Relations<br />
capacity. She took a leading role in organising<br />
the national <strong>BAPA</strong> conference in 1999 and<br />
due to the significant amount of work this<br />
created for her, started to struggle with the<br />
demands of her <strong>BAPA</strong> role and her day job so<br />
decided to step back from the organisation<br />
for a time.<br />
She did not however step back from her<br />
passion for change and building community<br />
bridges. Challenging racism has always been<br />
at the heart of what Andrea did and she continued to do work within the<br />
community. This involved speaking to young people who felt they had been<br />
affected by the issues around stop and search and going into churches to talk<br />
to people about their rights regarding stop and search. Andrea continued in<br />
her quest addressing many issues through her gift of poetry, as a public<br />
speaker and as a trainer. She managed to represent her community and the<br />
organisation locally, nationally and internationally and was awarded many<br />
accolades for that area of work.<br />
Andrea returned to <strong>BAPA</strong> when the current Chair, Karen Geddes, was<br />
appointed and started planning a number of activities for <strong>BAPA</strong> and its<br />
members. She has once again committed to helping the organisation to<br />
increase BME representation within the service through various initiatives and<br />
is now on the Procedural Justice Team who are poised to influence some of<br />
the most impacting cultural change in the <strong>history</strong> of policing in the West<br />
Midlands.<br />
23
1995 – Matt Ward joined West Midlands Police in 1995. In 2016 he is the only<br />
BME Chief Superintendent within the force. From an early age Matt knew he<br />
wanted to be a police officer. Whilst studying Law at Cambridge University he<br />
had the opportunity to undertake a six week work placement with West Midlands<br />
Police which gave him the opportunity to shadow Response Officers in<br />
Wolverhampton. This experience fuelled his interest in pursuing his childhood<br />
dream.<br />
His early policing career took him from Wolverhampton to Handsworth to<br />
Birmingham City Centre where he undertook a range of operational roles<br />
including Response, Neighbourhood Policing, CID, Custody and Operations<br />
Centre. Matt also worked as the staff officer to former Chief Constable, Sir Paul<br />
Scott-Lee, before joining the Force CID. He had the responsibility for investigating<br />
murders and major crimes across the Black Country.<br />
Matt later undertook the role of Operations Superintendent at<br />
Birmingham West & Central local policing unit and specialised in<br />
managing the night-time economy, policing protests and working<br />
with partners to protect the city from terrorist attacks. From this<br />
role he moved onto Force Intelligence where he led on the force’s<br />
response to organised crime, threats to life and human trafficking.<br />
Currently Matt is the LPU Commander of Sandwell, with over twenty<br />
years’ service he has had a vast career and has enjoyed policing a<br />
wide range of challenging operations and complex investigations.<br />
As a founding member of WM<strong>BAPA</strong>, he remains committed to<br />
making West Midlands Police more representative of the diverse<br />
communities it serves by increasing the representation of black and<br />
minority ethnic officers and staff at all levels.<br />
Chief Superintendent Matt Ward<br />
Winston Christie joined West Midlands Police in 1997. After hearing a number of<br />
people complain about racism within the police following the Stephen Lawrence<br />
enquiry and believing that the police needed to change – he decided the best way<br />
to do that was to join up himself and effect change from within and in September<br />
1995 he put in his application.<br />
It wasn’t until January 1997 that he was sworn in and he recalls the first couple of<br />
years being quite challenging until in 1998 a few more experienced officers saw<br />
he was struggling and offered their support.<br />
Once he had gotten past the initial hurdles and was signed off and confirmed as a<br />
constable in November 1998, his success story began. He qualified as a detective<br />
and passed his exams for sergeant quite early on and he was commended for<br />
24
The Future is Bright –<br />
the Future is <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands<br />
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association<br />
bravery after he and his partner tackled a man who threatened<br />
to shoot them after killing his wife.<br />
In 2006 Winston became Vice-Chair of WM<strong>BAPA</strong> and national<br />
rep alongside Althea Rhodd. In 2007 he became the Chair and<br />
working alongside the Association of Muslim Police (AMP)<br />
affected much change including changes to the recruitment and<br />
promotion process, developments in stop and search policy and<br />
changes in how Professional Standards dealt with black<br />
colleagues. He feels his greatest achievement is that when he<br />
stood down as Chair he had taken <strong>BAPA</strong> to a stronger and more<br />
influential position than it was before and he saw other<br />
determined and enthusiastic people ready to continue the good<br />
work. He is now working as a Temporary Inspector and aspires<br />
to be a substantive Inspector or Chief Inspector by the time he<br />
reaches 30 years’ service.<br />
T/Insp Winston Christie<br />
Later BME progression in West Midlands Police<br />
1981 – Anil Patani began his policing<br />
career with Nottinghamshire Police. He<br />
made <strong>history</strong> when in 2003 he joined West<br />
Midlands Police and became their first ever<br />
Assistant Chief Constable from a BME<br />
background.<br />
Assistant Chief Constable Anil Patani, now<br />
retired<br />
He has had a number of secondments to<br />
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of<br />
Constabularies on a series of national<br />
thematic inspections on policing and<br />
diversity.<br />
With West Midlands Police, he held the Force’s Operations portfolio as well as<br />
the territorial policing responsibility for Birmingham. He chaired a number of<br />
policing and partnership boards addressing the safety and wellbeing of<br />
Birmingham’s communities. During this time, Birmingham achieved the status<br />
of ‘safest major City in the UK’ in terms of crime.<br />
25
He was a member of the UK Police Counter Terrorism Board as well as the<br />
Professional Reference Group for Police Leadership, with national lead for the<br />
High Potential/Graduate Entry Scheme. He has been an assessor for Senior PNAC<br />
and HPDS for a number of years.<br />
He was also the Chair of the British Police Cricket Club from 2005 to 2011.<br />
Anil says he always wanted a career in public service, and a career in protecting<br />
people and their rights was challenging and worth considering. ‘Going to work<br />
and not knowing what the shift held in store - and how I/we would deal with<br />
those incidents – made it anything but a routine job. My initial posting to a busy,<br />
urban station got me hooked’.<br />
‘I was lucky to work in good team in my early years. The challenges came, not<br />
from any public reaction, but when I applied for specialisation and promotion.<br />
Racist language, whether direct or disguised as humour, was both overt and more<br />
common in those days. It would be many years before the service would recognise<br />
institutional racism as an issue. Someone who was willing to challenge unfairness,<br />
particularly in policing, was probably a tag that I retained for the rest of my<br />
career – and probably came at a price.’<br />
Anil believes the service has taken big strides in addressing many of the problems<br />
that were endemic a couple of decades ago – both in terms of equal<br />
opportunities and service delivery.<br />
In 1989, he was one of four officers (one Black and three Asian) who accused the<br />
Nottinghamshire Force of racial discrimination in the workplace. It was the first<br />
such case to be brought by serving officers in anywhere in Europe, eventually<br />
becoming the longest running Employment Tribunal in the UK. Their victory in<br />
that case became a watershed for equality in employment, and was a catalyst for<br />
subsequent changes in policy and procedures. Channel 4’s Dispatches reconstruction<br />
(Oct 1990) of the case gave it a national profile.<br />
His most lasting memory, however, comes from a routine policing job as a<br />
constable. Following the arrest of a couple of young offenders, Anil found a<br />
hoard of stolen items in their garage, including a number of garden gnomes! He<br />
scoured through carbon copies of paper crime reports and identified that they<br />
had been stolen from a local address. With a couple of these gnomes under his<br />
arms, he knocked on the door. An old lady saw me and collapsed in tears on the<br />
doorstep. Her late husband had collected these over the years and had been a<br />
happy memory for her till they were stolen. She sent me a Christmas card every<br />
year until she herself passed away. That, to me, is quintessentially what policing is<br />
about.<br />
Anil would say the following to anyone considering a career in policing:<br />
‘Policing is a challenging career but a good officer makes a difference to people’s<br />
lives. Often, this is at some of their most significant moments.<br />
26
The Future is Bright –<br />
the Future is <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands<br />
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association<br />
The best officers have a passion for what they do – it’s much more than a job.<br />
Operational competence is a pre-requisite for trust and confidence of the<br />
public, as is the need to reflect the communities that we serve. They invest<br />
extraordinary powers in us – so don’t be surprised when they demand<br />
extraordinary standards.<br />
Being right is not enough, you also have to be effective. This combination is<br />
what gives credibility to leadership as well as networks such as <strong>BAPA</strong>. Be<br />
prepared to be an outlier on issues of values and integrity as you may well be<br />
standing alone till others catch up! As such, there is latency effect in the<br />
impact that you may have – and it’s the legacy you leave that may be the best<br />
reward.<br />
The UK still has the best police service in the world – and WMP is at the<br />
vanguard of modern policing. Its diverse, cosmopolitan, globalised and<br />
networked context is precisely where I would encourage someone to embark<br />
on a policing career.’<br />
1984 – Surjeet Manku joined West Midlands Police. His parents were devout<br />
Sikhs and instilled a sense of duty and service in him, he said it was inevitable<br />
he would end up working for the police or doing something else trying to<br />
help others.<br />
He became West Midlands Police’s first Chief Inspector and Superintendent<br />
from a BME background – becoming commander of Birmingham East in 2010<br />
before heading up the department responsible for identifying improvements<br />
to how the force operates and the<br />
service it delivers.<br />
He received the QPM in 2013 which<br />
he states was a real honour and<br />
totally unexpected.<br />
Chief Constable at the time Chris<br />
Simms (who nominated Surjeet for<br />
the award) stated ‘he has changed<br />
the face of community<br />
engagement and local policing’.<br />
He retired in 2014 after completing<br />
30 years’ service.<br />
Chief Superintendent Surjeet<br />
Manku receives his QPM at<br />
Buckingham Palace<br />
27
Norman Bean worked for the force from 1985 -2004. Norman’s brother was<br />
former sergeant Stan Bean and he is the Uncle of serving officer Jennifer Bean. He<br />
completed 19 years’ service as a Special Constable. Norman enjoyed being a<br />
Special Constable, working the F3 area. He felt included and as part of a team.<br />
He recalls giving evidence in a court case about a police road accident- his police<br />
officer colleague was driving a police car, when taxi driver (on his mobile phone)<br />
crashed into them. The officer became partially sighted as a result. Norman<br />
recalls, that his testimony in court determined a positive outcome at court and a<br />
conviction.<br />
Jennifer Bean (Stan’s daughter and Norman’s neice) joined West Midlands Police<br />
in 1993 and currently works as a Detective Inspector within the Public Protection<br />
Unit.<br />
Jennifer states her Dad was her inspiration for joining the<br />
police - West Midlands Police in particular: ‘As a university<br />
student in Leicester, I wanted to stay and apply there. Dad<br />
persuaded me to come home and apply to West Midlands<br />
Police.’<br />
At the family home, the living room wall is covered in<br />
police related photos (awards, class photos, uniform<br />
photos of her and her Dad and sports- cricket!!!).<br />
Detective Inspector Jennifer Bean<br />
Current WM<strong>BAPA</strong> Executive Committee<br />
The current WM<strong>BAPA</strong> Exec Team – general secretary Marcia Francis, chair Karen<br />
Geddes and vice chair Kin Devi<br />
28
The Future is Bright –<br />
the Future is <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands<br />
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association<br />
1992 – Karen Geddes joined West Midlands Police. She was<br />
working in KFC when she saw an ad in the paper. At the<br />
time she had no aspirations to be a police officer but<br />
thought the job looked good and the money was better so<br />
applied.<br />
Karen recalls getting measured up for my uniformed and my<br />
photo for my warrant card. At the time she states she had a<br />
wicked afro which her hat did not fit on – ‘the police do not<br />
make hats for afros!’<br />
Inspector<br />
Karen<br />
Geddes –<br />
current chair<br />
of WM<strong>BAPA</strong><br />
She loved her time at Ryton – she met a lot of good people<br />
and learnt a lot. Lifesaving stands out at something she<br />
struggled with. She remembers having to ‘save’ this girl<br />
called Deb. Not a confident swimmer (and Deb was not a small girl!) Karen<br />
valiantly swam out from the side with Deb on her belly as instructed – but very<br />
quickly the roles were reversed and Deb ended up saving Karen! She spent the<br />
rest of the summer practising her backstroke and passed the exam. She states<br />
luckily she has never had to put it into practise!<br />
She remembers really fun times being on shifts at Steelhouse Lane and<br />
meeting some good people. But life was also a challenge. She would apply for<br />
things and get turned down. ‘You can’t do surveillance because you will stand<br />
out in Solihull’, ‘You can’t join CID because you are a trouble maker’. She<br />
subsequently became disillusioned and wanted to leave.<br />
She remembers when <strong>BAPA</strong> was launched in Birmingham – it was a wonderful<br />
event which she was proud to be part of. There were a lot of fine black folks<br />
in their tunics – she states she had never seen so many black officers.<br />
<strong>BAPA</strong> has provided her with a lot over the years – good support, good<br />
company and some good social events. Over the years she fell away from<br />
<strong>BAPA</strong> for no particular reason – she just did not have the desire or realisation<br />
that she had something to offer to the organisation.<br />
A few years ago she was going about her business when this high voice (and it<br />
is a high voice) shrieked at her ‘Karen you should run for Chair and I will run<br />
for Vice Chair’. I am so glad that I listened to that voice - that was PS Kin Devi.<br />
Karen says ‘I have been chair of <strong>BAPA</strong> for three years and I cannot express how<br />
much value it has added to my life. <strong>BAPA</strong> has allowed me to rise above many<br />
challenges’. In the words of Maya Angelou:<br />
Out of the huts of <strong>history</strong>’s shame<br />
I rise<br />
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain<br />
I rise<br />
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,<br />
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.<br />
29
<strong>BAPA</strong> has lifted her and rebuilt her self-confidence. It has allowed her to help<br />
others in ways she never thought possible. It has helped her to achieve goals that<br />
she thought were beyond her reach, it has made her live again and be proud to<br />
be an officer in West Midlands Police serving the community.<br />
In 1998 Kin Devi joined West Midlands Police. After seeing her sister start a career<br />
with the police she felt inspired to do the same. She states she has faced many<br />
challenges which other staff did not and she believes it was down to the fact that<br />
she was not in the influential networking group.<br />
She is confident that with the new Chief, David Thompson, <strong>BAPA</strong> now has a voice<br />
and she has every confidence they will together make the difference that is<br />
required within the force and ultimately make West Midlands Police more<br />
representative of the community it serves.<br />
Kin states she needed the support of <strong>BAPA</strong> whilst in her probationary period as<br />
she was being treated differently to other colleagues. She recalls if it had not<br />
been for the team around her and Insp Paul Lewin Chair of <strong>BAPA</strong> at the time she<br />
would have left the organisation. She states ‘when you are not in the majority<br />
you begin to doubt yourself and the organisation you have joined. The police<br />
force was not a career that was discussed when I was growing up even though my<br />
Grandad was an Inspector in the Punjabi Police Force. I can only put this down to<br />
the negative experiences my father had when he came to England in the sixties<br />
and because the police force was made up of mainly white males.’<br />
She therefore joined <strong>BAPA</strong> as a member and went to the meetings where she<br />
could, but felt the need to keep her membership secret from colleagues as she<br />
thought she would be alienated. Having attended several meetings she could<br />
really see the benefits in that they could share personal experiences, engage with<br />
community members and have a voice. As her confidence grew, she would often<br />
get requests to support BME officers through challenging times and this put them<br />
at ease.<br />
Insp Paul Lewin then left the organisation and Insp Karpaul Sihota became chair<br />
of <strong>BAPA</strong>. Karpaul continued to support Kin and BME officers in the challenging<br />
times. When Karpaul left the organisation, <strong>BAPA</strong> lost it focus through no fault of<br />
anyone. Sgt Winston Christie was made temporary chair but had no vice chair to<br />
support him. He struggled to keep the momentum going and BME staff and<br />
communities were suffering due to the lack of voice in <strong>BAPA</strong>.<br />
It was at this time that Kin briefed Insp Karen Geddes about <strong>BAPA</strong> and suggested<br />
she applied for the chair’s role. Subsequently after a vote Karen became chair, Kin<br />
became vice chair and Winston Christie became general secretary.<br />
<strong>BAPA</strong> now has a full committee of members and has gone from strength to<br />
strength. They work closely with other staff networks and the community at<br />
large.<br />
30
The Future is Bright –<br />
the Future is <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands<br />
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association<br />
Kin feels their biggest achievement is the National <strong>BAPA</strong> conference last year<br />
and the walk through Lozells. This was her neighbourhood and she was so<br />
proud and pleased to see how the community reacted to this march.<br />
She does regret that they haven’t achieved more. BME officers are not well<br />
represented at many ranks and the force is not yet representative of the<br />
communities it serves.<br />
Sergeant Kin Devi<br />
Nevertheless, there was some<br />
organisational recognition as Kirk<br />
Dawes became the first full time<br />
Chair of the association. Funding was<br />
also obtained from the force for the<br />
first time.<br />
There were several incidents where<br />
members would ask for support for<br />
an issue where perhaps they were<br />
already receiving Police Federation<br />
support which created tension with<br />
the Federation. Some members of the<br />
WMP Federation felt that <strong>BAPA</strong> was<br />
duplicating their work and didn’t<br />
understand what made <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
necessary. It took a while to convince some of the Federation representatives<br />
that actually <strong>BAPA</strong> could enhance the support they were already offering, by<br />
proving a BME perspective and support to a colleague who felt that it was<br />
relevant and necessary. It could be that the individual was the only BME officer<br />
in their team or felt that they were being targeted for their ethnicity. Either<br />
way a <strong>BAPA</strong> representative could offer additional support in a way that the<br />
Federation could not. Indeed, <strong>BAPA</strong> colleagues pushed the fact that rather<br />
than duplicate their work they could enhance the support offered by the<br />
Federation by providing a different outlook.<br />
The founders of <strong>BAPA</strong> would also like it recorded how instrumental retired<br />
Chief Superintendent Mick Layton was and to thank him for all of his support<br />
for BME officers and the organisation. They recall him being very supportive,<br />
raising awareness and generally helping to progress the good work of <strong>BAPA</strong>.<br />
31
2005 – Marcia Francis joined West Midlands Police in 2005 after<br />
quite a varied career including being a midwife, forensic scientist<br />
and even spending some time working in a prison. She became a<br />
detective early on and she now works within Public Protection<br />
doing bespoke work around digital and on-line crime. She recalls<br />
being encouraged to join <strong>BAPA</strong> from her early days with the force<br />
but it wasn’t until recently that she decided to join and became the<br />
General Secretary.<br />
DC Marcia Francis<br />
The Future<br />
In 2015 the National BPA conference was held at Tally Ho and was a<br />
resounding success. Speakers included Chief Constable David<br />
Thompson QPM LLB and Home Secretary Theresa May, who spoke of<br />
her disappointment that the police service as a whole had not done<br />
more to improve the representation of BME officers in its ranks. This is the first<br />
time a Home Secretary attended a <strong>BAPA</strong> conference, which demonstrates its rising<br />
importance and influence.<br />
WM<strong>BAPA</strong> members at the 2015 National <strong>BAPA</strong> conference held in Birmingham<br />
32
The Future is Bright –<br />
the Future is <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands<br />
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association<br />
2015 conference attendees along with Home Secretary Theresa May<br />
Theresa May arriving for her speech at the 2015 conference<br />
Today WM<strong>BAPA</strong> has a wide and varied membership with full and associate<br />
members to include anyone working within West Midlands Police who wants<br />
to help further the progression of BME representation within the service.<br />
Retired members of the force are also welcome.<br />
West Midlands Police has a number of initiatives in place to increase BME<br />
representation including a Positive Action programme for BME recruits and<br />
officers aspiring for promotion. Michelle Ugwueze is a part of this and<br />
together with other officers offers vital support for officers at all stages of the<br />
recruitment/promotion process.<br />
33
Student officers at the <strong>BAPA</strong> student development event 2016<br />
Inspector Karen Geddes is the current Chair and the group is well placed and<br />
influential in key decision making and activities to help WMP become more<br />
representative of the communities it serves.<br />
As Winston Christie puts it:<br />
‘The future is bright, the future is <strong>BAPA</strong>’.<br />
34
The Future is Bright –<br />
the Future is <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands<br />
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association<br />
With thanks…<br />
Particular thanks to the following:<br />
Karen Geddes (<strong>BAPA</strong> Chair)<br />
Kin Devi (<strong>BAPA</strong> Vice-Chair)<br />
Marcia Francis (<strong>BAPA</strong> General Secretary)<br />
Winston Christie<br />
Daphne Christie<br />
Marcia Ore<br />
Audrey King<br />
Max Lewin<br />
Andrea Reynolds<br />
Althea Rhodd<br />
Mohammed Khalid Kiyani<br />
Verley Tyndale<br />
Ramesh Kumar QPM<br />
Tariq Somra<br />
Mohamed Yusuf Daar<br />
Yunus Daar<br />
Matt Ward<br />
Michelle Ugwueze<br />
Paul Lewin<br />
Kirk Dawes<br />
The late Stan Bean<br />
Karpaul Sihota<br />
Thank you to the serving and retired officers who supplied photographs for<br />
use in this publication.<br />
Much of this material was gathered from a meeting held on the 8th August<br />
2016 at Tally Ho! Police Training Centre between current and retired officers,<br />
many of whom were original founders of <strong>BAPA</strong>. Huge thanks to these<br />
individuals for their time and commitment to this project.<br />
<strong>BAPA</strong> would like to thank Corinne Brazier for her time and effort writing this<br />
<strong>booklet</strong> on behalf of the West Midlands Police Museum.<br />
35
Achievements within West Midlands Police:<br />
First BME male and female Sergeants – Ralph<br />
Ramadhar and Julia Walsh<br />
Sergeant<br />
Ralph<br />
Ramadhar &<br />
Sergeant Julia<br />
Walsh<br />
First BME male<br />
and female<br />
Inspectors –<br />
Paul Lewin<br />
and Julia<br />
Walsh<br />
Lewin<br />
Inspector Paul<br />
First female BME Chief<br />
Inspector – Shindo<br />
Barquer<br />
First BME male Chief<br />
Inspector and<br />
Superintendent –<br />
Surjeet Manku<br />
Chief Superintendent Surjeet Manku QPM<br />
(now retired)<br />
36
The Future is Bright –<br />
the Future is <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands<br />
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association<br />
*No female BME officer has yet been promoted to a rank above Chief<br />
Inspector within West Midlands Police<br />
First male BME Chief Superintendent – Max Sahota,<br />
now ACC with the College of Policing<br />
Assistant Chief Constable Max Sahota<br />
First and only BME male Assistant Chief Constable Anil Patani<br />
Assistant Chief Constable Anil Patani (now retired)<br />
Awards<br />
2002 – Ramesh Kumar becomes the first West Midlands Asian officer to receive<br />
the QPM<br />
2004 – Kirk Dawes receives the QPM<br />
2010 – Shindo Barquer won the Chairman’s Award at the Asian Woman of<br />
Achievement Awards<br />
2013 – Surjeet Manku receives the QPM<br />
2015 – Karen Geddes wins Diversity award at force Diamond Awards<br />
2016 – Kiran Patel wins Student Officer of the Year award at force Diamond<br />
Awards<br />
37
Dedicated to the memories of Sergeant Stan Bean and Sergeant<br />
Ralph Ramadhar – true pioneers and trail blazers.<br />
Stan Bean<br />
1948-2007<br />
Ralph Ramadhar<br />
1937-1987<br />
©West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association<br />
38
The Future is Bright –<br />
the Future is <strong>BAPA</strong><br />
Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands<br />
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association<br />
39