30 years after Stephen Lawrence’s murder, my job as a Black police officer has never been so difficult

‘We have been led to believe that people from Black, Black heritage and Asian communities do not want to join policing. That has not been my experience.’ Photograph: Hollie Adams/Getty Images

This year, it will be 20 years since I joined policing, spurred on by two very different encounters. One was with a detective inspector in the Metropolitan police, who treated me with respect and courtesy, and suggested I sign up. The other was with some officers who behaved terribly, while I watched the people who challenged them being ignored. I realised that if you want to effect change, you can’t stay on the outside looking in. I’ve dedicated most of my service to speaking up and supporting my colleagues in the police.

As I approach my 20th anniversary, I can honestly say that working in the police service is more difficult than it has ever been. This is down to many different factors – including austerity, the pandemic, government policy and other world events – but being a Black serving police officer doesn’t seem to be getting any easier.