BAPA history_Layout 1 11.09.17

The Future is Bright –
the Future is BAPA

Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association

2

The Future is Bright –
the Future is BAPA

Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands

and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association

Contents 4
5
Foreword 6
Introduction 14
The Beginning 16
Creation of West Midlands Police BAPA 25
Founder Members and Early Influencers 28
Later BME progression in West Midlands Police 32
The Current Executive Committee 35
The Future 36
With Thanks 37
Achievements in West Midlands Police
Awards

3

Foreword

‘I want to work in a diverse team’

This year we celebrate 50 years since the first BME
officer joined the police service in the West Midlands
and 20 years since the launch of WMP Black and Asian
Police Association (BPA), one of the first in the UK.

On the 16th March 1966 Mohamed Yusuf Daar became
the first BME police officer in the West Midlands when
he joined what was then Coventry City Police.

On the 1st January 1996 black officers and support staff met for the first time
to explore their reality in the Police service and to share openly their feelings
and experiences. They saw the need to address the high number of black
officers leaving the service and from this an informal social network was
established. The following 12 months saw the BPA go from strength to
strength. On the 1st August 1997 the West Midlands BPA was formally
launched in recognition of its achievements by the Chief Constable and the
Lord Mayor of Birmingham.

Today West Midlands Police is engaged in an ambitious programme of change.
It is one that seeks to make us a modern service with traditional values. Those
values echo the vision of Peel’s 1829 policing principles: the police are the
public and the public are the police and most importantly the role of the
police to secure public favour by "A ready offering of individual service and
friendship to all members of society without regard to their race or social
standing". Our new values are clear. We want to work in a diverse team and to
challenge unreasonable and discriminatory behaviour.

In so many ways we can adopt these values and pursue a stronger agenda on
fairness and equality because of the struggle of our diverse staff. They stepped
forward to play an active part in policing. In many cases they have faced
barriers and discrimination. They have certainly powerfully advocated for
fairer policing to all communities. I think those efforts are bearing fruit.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to the people in this book and also to
all Black and Asian officers and staff past and present who continually display
strength, courage and compassion. They have made and continue to make
West Midlands Police an organisation I am proud to lead as Chief Constable.

Chief Constable David Thompson QPM
West Midlands Police

4

The Future is Bright –
the Future is BAPA

Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association

Introduction

I am fully committed to make West Midlands Police look
more like the communities it serves. In addition to
recruiting officers and staff from more diverse
backgrounds, that also means improving the retention
and the progression prospects for people from BME
backgrounds.
Over the last 20 years BAPA has been at the forefront of
that work. BAPA has not just challenged the force, but has
also put its policies into action through support and mentoring programmes.
They have not only encouraged new recruits, but given others the confidence
to work their way up through the organisation. BAPA will also play a
significant role in helping to ensure that the upcoming recruitment of over
1,000 staff and officers is as diverse as possible.
The challenges that some of our first BME officers faced shows us the distance
we have travelled, but is also a reminder that there is much to do. West
Midlands Police still have a long way to go and a lot of hard work ahead of us,
but with the work of BAPA that journey is a little shorter.
I would like to thank BAPA for its work over the last 20 years and look forward
to continued success for the organisation.
Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson

5

The Beginning

West Midlands Police was formed on April 1, 1974, with a strength of 5,282
officers. It incorporated Birmingham City Police, West Midlands Constabulary
(Dudley Borough Police, Walsall Borough Police, Wolverhampton Borough Police
and Oldbury from Staffordshire County Constabulary), Coventry City Police,
Solihull, Chelmsley Wood, Sutton Coldfield and Halesowen.

Today, it is the second largest force in the country, covering 348 sq miles and a
population of over 2.8 million.1

1966 – On the 16th March 1966 Mohamed
Yusuf Daar (known as Jo) became the first
BME police officer in the West Midlands when
he joined what was then Coventry City Police.
He was also the first Muslim police officer in

the West Midlands.

Young PC Daar on the front page of the
Daily Mirror2

He was previously an Inspector in the
British Colony of Tanganyika in East Africa.
When Tanganyika attained independence,
becoming Tanzania, Jo did not want to
give up his British citizenship and so

moved to England.

Jo states he saw the Chief Constable of Coventry City Police
on the TV speaking about how there would soon be ‘coloured’ police officers
walking the streets. The next day he walked in to Little Park Street police station
and enquired about a job. By the end of the day he had signed up. He was so
excited about his new job he forgot to ask about the pay – as it turns out on £14
a week he would earn half of his previous salary as a machine operator. When he
was initially shown round the officer asked him if it was ok to call him ‘Mo’ – he
said my name is Yusuf which in English is Joseph so call me ‘Jo’ and that was what
he was known as by his colleagues.

Jo recalls how he received letters from people all over the world – including one
person in Mauritius who sent a letter addressed simply to PC Daar – England. It
arrived with the Metropolitan Police Service who sent it on to him whilst on his
training at Ryton

1 https://www.west-midlands.police.uk/keeping-you-safe/about-us/history-of-the-force/index.aspx accessed 16/9/2016
2 Daily Mirror – Wednesday March 16th 1966

6

The Future is Bright –
the Future is BAPA

Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands

and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association

Jo’s experience of policing in Tanganyika was very
different to the UK – over there he was an Inspector at
aged 18, in charge of two stations and managing all
elements of a crime (e.g. initial report, investigation,
prosecution etc). In Coventry he had to do a lot of publicity
work, shaking hands and meeting people all the time
because of his ethnicity. He saw great value in being able
to support other young BME officers but he decided the
rest of it was not for him so as soon as he had finished his
probationary training, two years into his career with
Coventry Police, he left. Whilst he said he experienced no
racism, he did feel that his Muslim faith prevented him
from rising through the ranks.

PC Daar on the streets of Coventry- image courtesy of
Alamy Ltd

Mohamed Yunus Daar (Jo Daar’s brother) joined Coventry City Police in 1968.
Yunus served 14 years then left to work with his brother. He also does not
recall racism or negative experiences during his time in the police. He served
through two amalgamations – the merger of Coventry with Warwickshire in
1969 to make Warwickshire & Coventry Constabulary and the later merge of
Coventry with Birmingham City Police, Dudley Borough, Wolverhampton
Borough, Walsall Borough and parts of Staffordshire County Police to make
West Midlands Police (WMP) in 1974. The only time he could recall his
ethnicity being an issue was when he married
a white colleague. Even then he only recalls
gossip and it being a bit of a talking point.

Yunus and Jo Daar (left to right) in 2016

Yunus remembers one time being in the police
van with his colleagues when they were
talking about different communities,
prejudices and the challenges faced by the
mainly white police. He states everyone
suddenly went quiet and he was worried that
he said something wrong, when one of his
colleagues said ‘Sorry Yunus, we kind of forgot
you were here and there we are talking about
racism and prejudice’. This incident in
particular confirmed for him that colour did
not matter. He treated everyone as a human
being regardless of their race or ethnicity. He
recalls he definitely felt like a part of his team
and the wider policing family and he states
neither his ethnicity nor his faith ever caused him a problem.

7

By the time he left, Yunus states that as Inspector, most of his time was spent
doing paperwork and he felt detached from operational policing. When his
brother offered him a job and asked him to come and work with him, he decided
to leave policing behind altogether, although his supervising officer did
encourage him to take a break and consider returning.

Yunus feels immense pride that his family were the first Asian police officers in
the country, opening up the door for many others to follow. He also feels pride
whenever he sees a high ranking Asian or black officer on the television, seeing
how far the service has come in 50 years.

1966 – Ralph Ramadhar became the first black officer in Birmingham. In
December 1970 he became the first black sergeant in the country,
eventually retiring from the force in September 1977 to return to
Trinidad.

PC Ralph Ramadhar

When his appointment was announced Jo Daar sent him a letter of
support and the two of them met up to share their experiences and
support each other. Jo recalls they went to an Indian restaurant in
Digbeth and they almost got thrown out because the waiter perceived
that Ralph had been rude to him!

He initially experienced quite a bit of racism – contrary to the experiences
of Jo Daar. Within two weeks of The Times reporting that he was to
become Birmingham’s first ‘West Indian’ policeman, it was reported that
the head of the National Socialist Movement had written to Ralph,
advising that he ‘think again’ about his career prospects.3

The father-of-two from Cotteridge won over the public through his work
in the community - which included supporting young people and his
involvement with his local church. His skills as a police officer also shone through
including his apprehension of a criminal while on holiday in Great Yarmouth.

His wife Nelly said: "He was very pro-active and wanted to improve himself. He
had some difficulties - there was racism. There were slogans painted outside our
house saying 'no black officers.' But he was determined and he became friends
with the people. The racism stopped and he built up respect. Ralph joined the
police force to be an officer first and foremost and he had no idea he would be
the first black officer. He enjoyed his work immensely and did the best to bring
everyone together.

He was a big advocate of recruitment, I think he would believe there is more to
do but he would be proud there are more ethnic minority officers now.

3 The Times, 5th August 1966: 10, quoted in
Policing, Race and Racism – Michael Rowe

8

The Future is Bright –
the Future is BAPA

Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands

and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association

An early assessment of his performance as a sergeant shows that he
was a strong leader and able to deal with difficult situations such as
being a newcomer sergeant onto an already established shift –
something which any sergeant might struggle with, let alone the only
non-white one on the force. The report indicates he handled the
situation well and built up strong relationships
with his constables, gaining their respect and
trust.

After returning to Trinidad, Ralph sadly
passed away in 1987.

Ralph’s widow Nell

1968 – In July 1968 Herman Lokey became the first
black special constable in Birmingham. In an article in
the Birmingham Evening Mail in July 1968 he talked
about how he wanted to be a ‘member of an active
and useful organisation benefiting the community’.
He said he was very proud to be the first immigrant
special constable in Birmingham and he would ‘do
his best to uphold the fine traditions of the service’.

Special Constable Herman Lokey,4 image courtesy
of Mirrorpix

1969 – Tariq Somra became the
first Indian officer to join
Birmingham City Police. Born in
Kenya to a family with Pakistani
heritage, he followed his father to
Birmingham in 1966. Originally his father had been a reserve
police officer in Kenya fighting Mau Mau terrorists and Tariq
remembers the high esteem with which the British bobby was
held in the community.

PC Tariq Somra before he retired

Tariq recalls initial struggles of racism where he received
many jeers and negative comments from his colleagues and
was left out of social activities like going to the pub at the
end of a shift. He has spoken about working in Handsworth
where he was largely accepted by the Asian community but
many Afro-Caribbean community members saw him as a
‘race-traitor’.

4 Birmingham Evening Mail, July 1968
5 Notes from a meeting of BAPA founders and current members 8th August 2016 at Tally Ho! Police Training Centre, Birmingham

9

Tariq remembers when he was a serving officer the highest rank you could aspire
to would probably be a Sergeant. He thinks the future looks pretty good, the
more black and Asian Officers who have joined the service the better it will be for
the whole of the community that we serve. ‘There’s still a stigma which is
attached to the police service amongst the minority communities and that is an
historical thing it always has been and I think it’s the same all round
the world, but in this particular country there are people who are
who are forward thinking who have visions which people in the
past perhaps lacked. It is good that the organisation and BAPA can
do a lot of good with the police service and edge it further forward
as far as it can go’.5

He became the first Asian officer in the country to reach 30 years’
service before retiring in 1999 after spending 8 years in the
recruitment department for West Midlands Police. At the time, the
force was credited with having the second highest number of
ethnic minority officers in the country .

In 2016, many years after his retirement, Tariq still plays cricket for
West Midlands Police.

Tariq Somra 2016

1973 – Ramesh Kumar QPM became the first Asian officer in the West
Midlands Constabulary after three years as a police cadet. His father
was a Senior Police Officer in the Punjab Police, India so he had a
positive perception of the police from a young age and always
wanted to be a police officer.

Ramesh Kumar

He remembers arriving from India in 1965 not being able to speak,
read or write English. However he pursued his ambition to join the
police and whilst it was very hard, he eventually joined the regular
officers. Ramesh was proud when both sons joined the police force.
Anil was a regular officer for 10 years and Sunil was a Special
Constable for 4 years.

From an early stage in his service he was engaged in supporting fair
play and equal opportunities for the few minority officers in the
police service. From an international perspective he has been involved in building
better links with overseas police in particular with India, hosting many Police
Chiefs and delegates.

5 Notes from a meeting of BAPA founders and current members 8th August 2016 at Tally Ho! Police Training Centre, Birmingham

10

The Future is Bright –
the Future is BAPA

Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association

He had a long and distinguished career, working in traffic, on
motorbikes and in the murder squad where he received many
commendations from the Chief Constable and various judges. In 1974
he received the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award at Buckingham Palace
from Prince Phillip. He received a Royal Humane Society Award for life
saving in 1978 and in 2002 he was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal
for Distinguished Police Services.

Ramesh Kumar QPM 2016

Formation of West Midlands Police (1974)

1974 – Pauline Campbell-Moss became the first female BME officer in the
West Midlands when she joined West Midlands Police as a cadet. She
experienced a lot of difficulty because of her ethnicity, from members of the
public who often referred to her as ‘the coloured girl’. In an article in The
Voice from 8/11/20157 she refers to two incidents – one where she was
threatened with youths with knives on a bus and one where she was actually
bundled into the back of a car and had to escape by throwing herself out
whilst the car was still moving.

She left after three years to work with social services in Birmingham where she
felt better able to support troubled youths.

Pauline Campbell-Moss in 1974, seen at the front of her intake class

7 http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/west-midlands-first-black-police-woman accessed 1/9/2016

11

Also in 1974 special constable Balbir Singh Dhami joined WMP. He was born in
India in 1946 and recalls the British Police being mentioned very regularly and
says he always wanted to join them. In 1974 he was walking through Birmingham
City Centre when he came across a colleague who happened to be working as a
special constable. After finding out a bit more about the role of special constable
he joined up and recalls the best 25 years of his life working in that capacity for
WMP. He states if he was 18 once more he would do it all over again.

1978 – Surjit Singh Sihota joined
the force. Whilst he was not the
first Sikh officer to join West
Midlands Police he was the first to
wear a turban. He completed 30
years’ police service and retired in
2008 at the rank of sergeant.

Surjit Singh Sihota

Creation of West Midlands
Police BAPA

1993 – Murder of Stephen
Lawrence. Following the racially
motivated murder of Stephen
Lawrence in 1993, the subsequent public enquiry in 1998 identified widespread
racism in both the Metropolitan Police and Crown Prosecution Service. The
enquiry has led to significant changes in attitudes towards racism and the police
service, with key changes to policing policy being delivered. A number of our BME
officers who joined in the 1990s have highlighted the Stephen Lawrence enquiry
as a trigger for them wanting to join the police and affect change from within.

1994 – In September 1994 the Metropolitan Black Police Association (BPA) was
formed. The organisation was created in 1994 by Metropolitan Police
Commissioner Sir Paul Condon, who declared that its formation was the only way
forward in tackling the significant amounts of BME police officers and staff
leaving police forces across the country.8

1996 – On the 1st January 1996 black officers and support staff met for the first
time to explore their reality in the police service and to share openly their feelings
and experiences. The basis of these discussions was to address the
disproportionately high number of black officers leaving the service and from this
an informal social network was established. The following 12 months saw BAPA
go from strength to strength frequently being called upon to participate in
training conferences and address 'misconceptions within the black community'.
Representatives attended all functions in their own time, without any financial
support or formal recognition.

12

The Future is Bright –
the Future is BAPA

Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands

and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association

This year also saw the formation of the National Communication Network.9
The network consisted of BME staff members from different forces right across
the country. Their motto was ‘One Voice, Strength in Unity’ and this remains
the National Black Police Association (NBPA) motto.

1997 – In 1997, 12 months after WMBAPA was created it was formally
launched in recognition of its achievements by the Chief Constable and the
Lord Mayor of Birmingham.

Chief Constable Edward Crew officially
launches BAPA at Tally Ho! with the Lord

Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Sybil
Spence, her consort Mr Dante Spence, PC

Tariq Somra (BAPA Chair) and Insp Paul
Lewin from the Equal Opportunities Unit

1998 – Early in 1998 members of the
National Communication Network met
with RT Hon Jack Straw (then Home
Secretary) to discuss the role of BPAs. He
was very supportive and further
meetings were held to discuss how to progress the associations. In November
1998 the first interim executive committee was elected to launch the National
Black Police Association.10 The executive committee consisted of 14 members

from 12 different police forces, as
recollected by the history section of the
NBPA. Daphne Christie became the WMP
Police Staff rep and sat on
the Interim Executive
Committee. Andrea
Reynolds was also on the
Interim Executive and she
was instrumental with the
support of Chief
Constable Edward Crew
and the Home Secretary
Jack Straw, in effectively
launching the NBPA at
the ICC.

The Interim Executive Committee for the NBPA

An early BAPA Annual Report

13

1999 – This year saw the conference that officially launched the National Black
Police Association with a major event being held at the International Conference

Centre in Birmingham. Founding members of WMBAPA have talked about
how overwhelming it was to see so much support for local and national
BPAs.

National Black Police Association logo

2000 – During the early 2000s there was heightened suspicion around
BAPA within the organisation and people didn’t want to publicise the
fact they were members. Officers and staff outside of the organisation
didn’t really understand what it was all about. There were many
misconceptions around its aims and objectives and it was deemed divisive.

It is fair to say that BAPA has not been universally welcomed within the service,
although it has the full support of the Chief Constable and the goodwill of others.
To the unenlightened, it has been seen as divisive, discriminatory and an attempt
by black members to usurp the various functions of the unions and Police
Federation. None of these held views could be further from the truth. The truth
of the matter is, these views are exactly the reason why there is a crucial need for
a Black Police Association.

After suffering years of isolation, for which neither the service or staff
associations, were able to cater fully for the unique needs of black members,
BAPA’s function is one supplementing all the other support structures. In doing
so, they also seek to forge closer links with the black community, creating a sense
of real partnership which can only be for the benefit of the service as a whole.

2007 – With Sergeant Winston Christie as Chair and with the support of the AMP,
BAPA went from strength to strength and really started enhancing perspectives
within the police service and affecting change in key policies that could improve
the prospects of BME officers, wherever they had been disadvantaged.

Membership criteria are open to serving officers or support staff from Afro
Caribbean or Asian origin.
BAPA recognises the existence of other black organisations within and outside the
Criminal Justice System and is keen to work with these organisations for the
benefit of all.

Ramesh and Tariq (detailed above as some of the first BME officers in the
Midlands) were key founding members of WMBAPA. Below are the stories of the
other founder members of WMBAPA and early BME influencers in the force.

8 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Black_Police_Association_(United_Kingdom) access 1/9/2016
9 http://www.nbpa.co.uk/about-us/history/ accessed 1/9/2016

14

The Future is Bright –
the Future is BAPA

Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands

and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association

Founder members and early influencers

Stanford Will Bean joined WMP in 1975 and retired as a sergeant in 1999. He
sadly died in 2007.

Stan’s daughter Jennifer found a folder her father kept of his career
achievements after he passed away - including his exemplary discharge
certificate from the British Army. In this folder she found a copy of a report he
had written to all Black and Asian police officers about the creation of a Black
Police Association. The report is dated 29th November 1994.

In the report, by way of introduction, Stan explained that he joined the force
in 1975 aged 27, after completing 10 years exemplary military service. He
explained that for all his service, it has been based in Birmingham (central &

inner city). At 11 years’ service
he was promoted to sergeant
and posted to Queens Road. He
then spent 6 years as a sergeant
within the Community Service
Department and then before he
retired, the custody block at
Steelhouse lane. He also
explained that he had interest in
working on the OSU and Scenes
of Crime Department, but was
unsuccessful in gaining
attachments to those respective
departments.

Sergeant Stan Bean with Chief
Constable Edward Crew

In the report Stan stated ‘The
police service has come a long way since 1975, but there is still room for
improvement.’ He added ‘some of you might be reluctant to even
contemplate forming a black police association in this force. Because of
numerous reasons, for example you don’t want to be seen as a trouble maker,
worried that joining an association would have a detrimental impact on career
prospects.’

In his report Stan recognised the difficulties of creating and launching such an
association, as many black officers are apprehensive about socialising with
each other or even mixing with the black community. He wrote ‘a positive
attitude is required from you because Black and Asian officers’ experiences
inside and outside the service are unique’.

10 http://www.nbpa.co.uk/about-us/history/ accessed 1/9/2016

15

Stan went on to explain the remit of the Black Police Association and reinforced
that the association does not intend to replace statutory staff associations.
He outlined the areas of the association would focus on-

1. Support network
2. Social network
3. Equality of opportunity
4. Police Community Relations
5. Recruitment Policy
6. WMP Policy development

Stan also outlined goals he expected the association to achieve in its first year. He
made sure BAPA had a voice and wasn’t afraid to challenge the force.

Stan Bean loved sport - boxing, rugby, football & cricket. He played cricket for
West Midlands Police and played for West Midlands
Police Cricket Veterans. Since his death, every June a
memorial cricket match is played between WMP Vets and
Handsworth Park Cricket Club - held at alternate
locations of Handsworth Park and Tally Ho! A team
cricket photo hangs in the Tally Ho Social Club bar.

On retiring from the police Stan continued to give back
to the community. He was passionate about mentoring,
supporting and developing young black boys. He worked
at Wheelers Lane Boys School and latterly Holte School
(2002-2006), before his illness took hold and he died in
2007.

The late Sergeant Stan Bean

Paul Lewin, who joined the force in 1977 was an influential original
member, bringing others together to start formal meetings. Tariq
Somra was the first Chairman of the organisation and he remained in
post until Paul Lewin took over in 1998. Other founding members
included Mohammed Kiyani, Ramesh Kumar, Max Lewin, Matt Ward,
Althea Rhodd, Andrea Reynolds, Marcia Ore, Daphne Christie, Karpaul
Sihota, Kirk Dawes, Stan Bean, Shindo Barquer and Vicky Smith.

Founding member Inspector Paul Lewin

There was lots of secrecy around the early meetings – whilst people were grateful
for the support, they didn’t necessarily want their colleagues knowing they were
a member as they didn’t want a reputation as a trouble maker.

Daphne recalls the early meetings being held informally in the Lloyd House
canteen.

16

The Future is Bright –
the Future is BAPA

Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association

Founder members and current executive team at Tally Ho 2016 documenting
the history of BME officers and WMBAPA.

Back row left to right: Corinne Brazier, Verley Tyndale, Yunus Daar, T/Insp
Winston Christie, Mohamed Yusuf Daar, PC Michelle Ugwueze, Chief Supt
Matt Ward

Middle row left to right: Tariq Somra, Mohammed Khalid Kiyani, Max Lewin,
Vicky Smith, DC Marcia Francis

Bottom row left to right: Sgt Audrey King, Insp Karen Geddes, Ramesh Kumar
QPM, PC Andrea Reynolds, Althea Rhodd, Daphne Christie, Marcia Ore

1976 – In October 1976 Althea Rhodd joined the force working as a member
of police staff in recruitment. She had the offer of two jobs, one with West
Midlands Police and the other with Birmingham City Council. She was offered
a position with the police which she accepted. She recalls being one of only a
handful of BME members of staff at the time. Eventually she was promoted to
a senior police staff position of Business Manager and she was one of only
three BME Business Managers out of 26 in total.

She made a point of supporting other BME officers and staff and actively
seeking them out. She would invite them to come to meetings where they
could sit in her office, share problems and help each other. She remembers
other people walking past and wondering what was going on.

17

As one of the original members of BAPA she recalls initial meetings being poorly
attended, with many not wanting to go for fear of reprisals. Even when meetings
were held across the force area there were not many staff who were confident
enough to attend. Althea eventually left WMP after almost 34 years with the

force.

Althea Rhodd

Also in 1976, Kirk Dawes joined West Midlands Police. He served as a
Detective Constable in a number of specialist roles across the
Robbery Squad, Special Patrol Group and eventually the Drug Squad.

After the publication of the McPherson report into the racially
motivated murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993, Kirk moved into
training other CID officers in issues of racial diversity issues. He
became the WMBAPA Chair in 1998 and unfortunately had to leave
policing in 2004 due to a lung condition.

Kirk Dawes

1982 – Mohammed Khalid Kiyani joined in
1982 to make a difference in the community.
He experienced many difficulties as a practicing
Muslim. Neither the training centre nor the
police service catered for dietary or religious
needs of Muslims. He experienced many incidents of racism
and discrimination from both within the organisation and
from the members of the public. He felt that he and many
other BME officers had to develop coping mechanisms in
order to survive. He always wanted to affect change from
within and he was one of a group of Asian officers who
used to get together informally. The suggestion of setting
up a formal group to support BME colleagues, from this
group, was met with swift negative response from senior
officers. At that time there was no appetite to tolerate any
such organisation and the idea was put to rest until the
later work of the Metropolitan Black Police Association
became known in the mid-1990s. He was subsequently one
of the founder members of West Midlands Police Black
Police Association and he suggested the initial name
change to be more inclusive to Asian officers, which was
later adopted, leading to the WMP Black and Asian Police
Association.

18

The Future is Bright –
the Future is BAPA

Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association

He worked in the recruitment department in 1985 and was part of a very
successful recruiting campaign for WMP to increase the BME officer numbers.
He also worked on many force committees and working groups to help bring
about many changes internally and externally. Despite experiencing prejudice,
racism and discrimination in the service from some people, he has also had the
pleasure of working with some very fair-minded,
committed and forward thinking people who helped to
develop him at a professional level to work in various
specialist areas and achieve promotion.

Although he worked as a Temporary Detective Chief
Inspector in Force CID for 18 months, his biggest regret was
not getting through to higher ranks in order to make a
bigger difference in influencing policing decisions that
affect the communities. Despite all the difficulties, he does
however feel a huge sense of satisfaction from the work he
did, in particular that what he and fellow early BME
officers went through was worth it to pave the way for
new and future BME officers to follow. He states that it has
been a pleasure to serve the diverse communities of West
Midlands. There is no other job in the world that gives you
such an experience in life and would recommend it to any
young person thinking of joining the Police.

Temporary Chief Inspector Mohammed Khalid Kiyani
before his retirement

Marcia Ore (nee Edwards) also joined the force in 1982. She was influenced by
the 1981 Brixton riots and the recommendations in the Scarman report, and
didn’t want to go into a stereotypical job of nursing, office or factory work.
She promptly gave up her A levels, quit college and signed up. She recalls her
early years being very challenging and the support of one BME officer in
particular motivated her to keep going. That officer was Judy Clements (now
OBE) who has since had a distinguished civil service career after spending 10
years with West Midlands Police.

Marcia recalls that in the very early days, black officers felt they couldn’t even
acknowledge each other in the corridor, because it started conversations that
they were getting together and conspiring. One event in particular has been
recounted – where a few BME officers decided to go out socially together for
a curry and personal letters were sent to officers to invite them. Senior officers
became aware and it suddenly blew up into a massive incident with several
officers being told off and deemed ‘troublemakers’.

19

After joining BAPA at the request of Paul Lewin in
1998 she eventually progressed on to the National
BPA, taking up the portfolio of gender and sexual
orientation. Together with another colleague from
Leicestershire she organised the successful Women
in the Shade conference in 2001 but later left the
national group due to a lack of support. In 2003 she
transferred to West Mercia Police where she retired
as a Sergeant in 2012.

Retired Sergeant Marcia Ore as a probationary PC
in 1982

Another BME officer who joined in 1982 and
became heavily involved in early BAPA meetings
was Karpaul Sihota. He states there were very few
BME officers at this time and the only way they

could support one another was to
meet in secret in a pub as the
organisation would not approve. Ethnic minority officers faced
big challenges and often just sharing similar experiences would
help them to remain focused and realise they were not alone in
their experiences.

One of the highlights of his career was becoming chair of BAPA
and being able to support colleagues, being a critical friend to
the organisation and being able to influence policies and
procedures.

He states he also enjoyed working closely with communities. This
often prevented disorder as officers were able to mediate with
different groups.

Karpaul retired in 2012 at the rank of Inspector.

Karpaul Sihota

1983 – Verley Tyndale joined WMP. After being strongly influenced by police TV
programmes at the time, Verley joined to make a difference in his local
community.

He recalls that he didn’t experience any racism from the force at that time, even
though he was the only black officer in his station, but members of the
community were not always supportive. In particular, he recalls during the miners’
strike being the only black officer amongst c20,000 officers who were deployed.

20

The Future is Bright –
the Future is BAPA

Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands

and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association

Despite passing his Sergeant and Inspector exams relatively early in his career
(6 and 7 years respectively) it took him a while to secure promotion to these
ranks – he did not become a substantive Inspector until 22 years into his
service.

He was instrumental in being the first officer to engage with a pirate radio
station to seek witnesses in a
murder investigation. He also
played a key part in securing a
number of difficult witnesses that
were required at a murder trial in
relation to black on black murders.
He received a Chief Constables
Commendation for his efforts.

Verley left WMP after 30 years’
service at the rank of Inspector
when the A19 policy (requiring
officers to retire at 30 years) was in
place.

Inspector Verley Tyndale with Chief
Constable Sir Edward Crew

Max Lewin also joined in 1983. He was the Social Secretary of BAPA and
organised many of the social events that aimed to bring people from all
backgrounds together. One particular thing about BAPA as an association is
that its events have always been inclusive and they have never excluded
anyone.

Max recalls putting up an advert for a BAPA event when his
colleagues saw him. Their attitude was quite negative towards the
association and they used words to the effect of ‘we didn’t realise
you were one of them – we thought you were ok’. This demonstrates
the negative perceptions of BAPA that existed at the time. He took
the opportunity to highlight how useful the events were for
networking and connecting with colleagues and to demonstrate how
inclusive the organisation was as the invite was open to all. He
convinced his colleagues to come along and as it turned out the
whole shift went, they had a great time and kept asking when the
next one was!

He retired in 2013 at the rank of Sergeant. He has returned to the
force as a member of police staff working in Force Contact.

Max Lewin

21

1985 – Police staff member Daphne Christie joined
the force as a temp recording injury and damage
only RTC data. Almost two years later she was
employed as a permanent member of staff. She
now works within the Records Management team
as an Information Assurance Officer.

After initially being heavily involved in local and
national BAPA activities she took a step back but
recently got involved in helping to organise the
very successful 2015 national BAPA conference held
at Tally Ho! Police Training Centre in Birmingham.

Daphne Christie with her brother Winston

1987 – Shindo Barquer became the first Sikh woman to work for West Midlands
Police. She joined at the age of 21 and worked her way up to ranks to her current
rank of Chief Inspector. In 2010 she won the Chairman’s Award at the prestigious
Asian Woman of Achievement awards after being nominated in the Public Sector
category. In 2011 she won the Uniformed and Civil Service award at the Asian
Achievers Awards.

1988 – Audrey King joined WMP in October 1988. She wanted to be in a position
to help people and recalls there was a big recruitment drive for BME officers. Her
family had originally convinced her to obtain the qualifications to become a
pharmacist but after starting work in an office and being horrified at the prospect
of spending the next 40 years there, she became a special constable in Balsall
Heath. She enjoyed it so much she went on to become a regular constable. She
qualified for the rank of Sergeant after moving to the Major
Fraud Unit in 2001 and after some time in an acting post left to
join Leicestershire Police to gain a substantive Sergeant’s post.

During the riots in 2006 she felt BAPA actively made a difference
in the local community through work they were doing engaging
with local church groups and they were able to deal with issues
faced by the BAPA members.

Audrey is still serving with Leicestershire Police and tries hard to
mentor new BME officers and increase the numbers of BME
officers within her force. She feels very strongly about existing
officers doing all they can to improve things for the officers who
will be following in their footsteps. She says it would be nice to
get to a point where seeing high ranking female BME officers is
not such a phenomenon.

Sergeant Audrey King

22

The Future is Bright –
the Future is BAPA

Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association

Andrea Reynolds joined West Midlands Police in 1994.
After a very difficult and traumatic introduction to
policing with innumerable negative experiences Andrea
proffered her resignation after successful completion of
her probationary period. She was eventually persuaded
to return by ACC Wardle who investigated her case.

PC Andrea Reynolds

Andrea was one of the
founder members of
BAPA and as part of the
committee she
represented them in a Public Relations
capacity. She took a leading role in organising
the national BAPA conference in 1999 and
due to the significant amount of work this
created for her, started to struggle with the
demands of her BAPA role and her day job so
decided to step back from the organisation
for a time.

She did not however step back from her
passion for change and building community
bridges. Challenging racism has always been
at the heart of what Andrea did and she continued to do work within the
community. This involved speaking to young people who felt they had been
affected by the issues around stop and search and going into churches to talk
to people about their rights regarding stop and search. Andrea continued in
her quest addressing many issues through her gift of poetry, as a public
speaker and as a trainer. She managed to represent her community and the
organisation locally, nationally and internationally and was awarded many
accolades for that area of work.

Andrea returned to BAPA when the current Chair, Karen Geddes, was
appointed and started planning a number of activities for BAPA and its
members. She has once again committed to helping the organisation to
increase BME representation within the service through various initiatives and
is now on the Procedural Justice Team who are poised to influence some of
the most impacting cultural change in the history of policing in the West
Midlands.

23

1995 – Matt Ward joined West Midlands Police in 1995. In 2016 he is the only
BME Chief Superintendent within the force. From an early age Matt knew he
wanted to be a police officer. Whilst studying Law at Cambridge University he
had the opportunity to undertake a six week work placement with West Midlands
Police which gave him the opportunity to shadow Response Officers in
Wolverhampton. This experience fuelled his interest in pursuing his childhood
dream.

His early policing career took him from Wolverhampton to Handsworth to
Birmingham City Centre where he undertook a range of operational roles
including Response, Neighbourhood Policing, CID, Custody and Operations
Centre. Matt also worked as the staff officer to former Chief Constable, Sir Paul
Scott-Lee, before joining the Force CID. He had the responsibility for investigating
murders and major crimes across the Black Country.

Matt later undertook the role of Operations Superintendent at
Birmingham West & Central local policing unit and specialised in
managing the night-time economy, policing protests and working
with partners to protect the city from terrorist attacks. From this
role he moved onto Force Intelligence where he led on the force’s
response to organised crime, threats to life and human trafficking.

Currently Matt is the LPU Commander of Sandwell, with over twenty
years’ service he has had a vast career and has enjoyed policing a
wide range of challenging operations and complex investigations.

As a founding member of WMBAPA, he remains committed to
making West Midlands Police more representative of the diverse
communities it serves by increasing the representation of black and
minority ethnic officers and staff at all levels.

Chief Superintendent Matt Ward

Winston Christie joined West Midlands Police in 1997. After hearing a number of
people complain about racism within the police following the Stephen Lawrence
enquiry and believing that the police needed to change – he decided the best way
to do that was to join up himself and effect change from within and in September
1995 he put in his application.

It wasn’t until January 1997 that he was sworn in and he recalls the first couple of
years being quite challenging until in 1998 a few more experienced officers saw
he was struggling and offered their support.

Once he had gotten past the initial hurdles and was signed off and confirmed as a
constable in November 1998, his success story began. He qualified as a detective
and passed his exams for sergeant quite early on and he was commended for

24

The Future is Bright –
the Future is BAPA

Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands

and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association

bravery after he and his partner tackled a man who threatened to
shoot them after killing his wife.

In 2006 Winston became Vice-Chair of WMBAPA and national rep
alongside Althea Rhodd. In 2007 he became the Chair and working
alongside the Association of Muslim Police (AMP) affected much
change including changes to the recruitment and promotion process,
developments in stop and search policy and changes in how
Professional Standards dealt with black colleagues. He feels his
greatest achievement is that when he stood down as Chair he had
taken BAPA to a stronger and more influential position than it was
before and he saw other determined and enthusiastic people ready to
continue the good work. He is now working as a Temporary Inspector
and aspires to be a substantive Inspector or Chief Inspector by the time
he reaches 30 years’ service.

T/Insp Winston Christie

Later BME progression in West
Midlands Police

1981 – Anil Patani began his policing career
with Nottinghamshire Police. He made
history when in 2003 he joined West
Midlands Police and became their first ever
Assistant Chief Constable from a BME
background.

Assistant Chief Constable Anil Patani, now
retired

He has had a number of secondments to Her
Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabularies on a
series of national thematic inspections on policing and diversity.

With West Midlands Police, he held the Force’s Operations portfolio as well as
the territorial policing responsibility for Birmingham. He chaired a number of
policing and partnership boards addressing the safety and wellbeing of
Birmingham’s communities. During this time, Birmingham achieved the status
of ‘safest major City in the UK’ in terms of crime.
He was a member of the UK Police Counter Terrorism Board as well as the
Professional Reference Group for Police Leadership, with national lead for the
High Potential/Graduate Entry Scheme. He has been an assessor for Senior
PNAC and HPDS for a number of years.

25

He was also the Chair of the British Police Cricket Club from 2005 to 2011.

Anil says he always wanted a career in public service, and a career in protecting
people and their rights was challenging and worth considering. ‘Going to work
and not knowing what the shift held in store - and how I/we would deal with
those incidents – made it anything but a routine job. My initial posting to a busy,
urban station got me hooked’.

‘I was lucky to work in good team in my early years. The challenges came, not
from any public reaction, but when I applied for specialisation and promotion.
Racist language, whether direct or disguised as humour, was both overt and more
common in those days. It would be many years before the service would recognise
institutional racism as an issue. Someone who was willing to challenge unfairness,
particularly in policing, was probably a tag that I retained for the rest of my
career – and probably came at a price.’

Anil believes the service has taken big strides in addressing many of the problems
that were endemic a couple of decades ago – both in terms of equal
opportunities and service delivery.

In 1989, he was one of four officers (one Black and three Asian) who accused the
Nottinghamshire Force of racial discrimination in the workplace. It was the first
such case to be brought by serving officers in anywhere in Europe, eventually
becoming the longest running Employment Tribunal in the UK. Their victory in
that case became a watershed for equality in employment, and was a catalyst for
subsequent changes in policy and procedures. Channel 4’s Dispatches re-
construction (Oct 1990) of the case gave it a national profile.

His most lasting memory, however, comes from a routine policing job as a
constable. Following the arrest of a couple of young offenders, Anil found a
hoard of stolen items in their garage, including a number of garden gnomes! He
scoured through carbon copies of paper crime reports and identified that they
had been stolen from a local address. With a couple of these gnomes under his
arms, he knocked on the door. An old lady saw me and collapsed in tears on the
doorstep. Her late husband had collected these over the years and had been a
happy memory for her till they were stolen. She sent me a Christmas card every
year until she herself passed away. That, to me, is quintessentially what policing is
about.

Anil would say the following to anyone considering a career in policing:
‘Policing is a challenging career but a good officer makes a difference to people’s
lives. Often, this is at some of their most significant moments.
The best officers have a passion for what they do – it’s much more than a job.

Operational competence is a pre-requisite for trust and confidence of the public,
as is the need to reflect the communities that we serve. They invest extraordinary
powers in us – so don’t be surprised when they demand extraordinary standards.

26

The Future is Bright –
the Future is BAPA

Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands

and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association

Being right is not enough, you also have to be effective. This combination is
what gives credibility to leadership as well as networks such as BAPA. Be
prepared to be an outlier on issues of values and integrity as you may well be
standing alone till others catch up! As such, there is latency effect in the
impact that you may have – and it’s the legacy you leave that may be the best
reward.

The UK still has the best police service in the world – and WMP is at the
vanguard of modern policing. Its diverse, cosmopolitan, globalised and
networked context is precisely where I would encourage someone to embark
on a policing career.’

1983 - Pamela Clayton
Born in 1964 to West Indian parents, Pamela Clayton joined West Midlands
Police in 1983 at the age of eighteen. Her first police station was Thornhill
Road, Handsworth, where she remained as a uniformed bobby for twelve
years. She later worked on child protection and domestic violence before
joining the Murder Investigations Unit as a Detective. Pamela specialised in
interviewing perpetrators and family liaison. Pamela qualified as a a Detective
Trainer and taught detectives in all fields for several years. She retired in 2013
after 30 years service. She now works with her husband in the film industry.

1984 – Surjeet Manku joined West Midlands Police. His parents were devout
Sikhs and instilled a sense of duty and service in him, he said it was inevitable
he would end up working for the police or doing something else trying to
help others.

He became West Midlands Police’s first Chief Inspector and Superintendent
from a BME background – becoming commander of Birmingham East in 2010

before heading up the department responsible for
identifying improvements to how the force
operates and the service it delivers.

He received the QPM in 2013 which he states was a
real honour and totally unexpected.

Chief Constable at the time Chris Simms (who
nominated Surjeet for the award) stated ‘he has
changed the face of community engagement and
local policing’.

He retired in 2014 after completing 30 years’
service.

Chief Superintendent Surjeet Manku receives his
QPM at Buckingham Palace

27

Norman Bean worked for the force from 1985 -2004. Norman’s brother was
former sergeant Stan Bean and he is the Uncle of serving officer Jennifer Bean. He
completed 19 years’ service as a Special Constable. Norman enjoyed being a
Special Constable, working the F3 area. He felt included and as part of a team.
He recalls giving evidence in a court case about a police road accident- his police
officer colleague was driving a police car, when taxi driver (on his mobile phone)
crashed into them. The officer became partially sighted as a result. Norman
recalls, that his testimony in court determined a positive outcome at court and a
conviction.

Jennifer Bean (Stan’s daughter and Norman’s neice) joined West Midlands Police
in 1993 and currently works as a Detective Inspector within the Public Protection

Unit.
Jennifer states her Dad was her inspiration for joining the
police - West Midlands Police in particular: ‘As a university
student in Leicester, I wanted to stay and apply there. Dad
persuaded me to come home and apply to West Midlands
Police.’

At the family home, the living room wall is covered in
police related photos (awards, class photos, uniform
photos of her and her Dad and sports- cricket!!!).

Detective Inspector Jennifer Bean

Current WMBAPA
Executive
Committee

The current WMBAPA Exec
Team – general secretary
Marcia Francis, chair Karen
Geddes and vice chair Kin
Devi

1991 – Julia Walsh becomes the first black female sergeant
in WMP history.

Julia Walsh

28

The Future is Bright –
the Future is BAPA

Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands

and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association

1992 – Karen Geddes joined West Midlands Police. She
was working in KFC when she saw an ad in the paper. At
the time she had no aspirations to be a police officer but
thought the job looked good and the money was better
so applied.

Karen recalls getting measured up for my uniformed and
my photo for my warrant card. At the time she states she
had a wicked afro which her hat did not fit on – ‘the
police do not make hats for afros!’

Inspector She loved her time at Ryton – she met a lot of good
Karen people and learnt a lot. Lifesaving stands out at
Geddes – something she struggled with. She remembers having to
current chair ‘save’ this girl called Deb. Not a confident swimmer (and
of WMBAPA Deb was not a small girl!) Karen valiantly swam out from
the side with Deb on her belly as instructed – but very
quickly the roles were reversed and Deb ended up saving Karen! She spent
the rest of the summer practising her backstroke and passed the exam. She
states luckily she has never had to put it into practise!

She remembers really fun times being on shifts at Steelhouse Lane and
meeting some good people. But life was also a challenge. She would apply
for things and get turned down. ‘You can’t do surveillance because you will
stand out in Solihull’, ‘You can’t join CID because you are a trouble maker’.
She subsequently became disillusioned and wanted to leave.

She remembers when BAPA was launched in Birmingham – it was a
wonderful event which she was proud to be part of. There were a lot of fine
black folks in their tunics – she states she had never seen so many black
officers.

BAPA has provided her with a lot over the years – good support, good
company and some good social events. Over the years she fell away from
BAPA for no particular reason – she just did not have the desire or realisation
that she had something to offer to the organisation.

A few years ago she was going about her business when this high voice (and
it is a high voice) shrieked at her ‘Karen you should run for Chair and I will
run for Vice Chair’. I am so glad that I listened to that voice - that was PS Kin
Devi. Karen says ‘I have been chair of BAPA for three years and I cannot
express how much value it has added to my life. BAPA has allowed me to rise
above many challenges’. In the words of Maya Angelou:

Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

29

BAPA has lifted her and rebuilt her self-confidence. It has allowed her to help
others in ways she never thought possible. It has helped her to achieve goals that
she thought were beyond her reach, it has made her live again and be proud to
be an officer in West Midlands Police serving the community.

In 1998 Kin Devi joined West Midlands Police. After seeing her sister start a career
with the police she felt inspired to do the same. She states she has faced many
challenges which other staff did not and she believes it was down to the fact that
she was not in the influential networking group.

She is confident that with the new Chief, David Thompson, BAPA now has a voice
and she has every confidence they will together make the difference that is
required within the force and ultimately make West Midlands Police more
representative of the community it serves.

Kin states she needed the support of BAPA whilst in her probationary period as
she was being treated differently to other colleagues. She recalls if it had not
been for the team around her and Insp Paul Lewin Chair of BAPA at the time she
would have left the organisation. She states ‘when you are not in the majority
you begin to doubt yourself and the organisation you have joined. The police
force was not a career that was discussed when I was growing up even though my
Grandad was an Inspector in the Punjabi Police Force. I can only put this down to
the negative experiences my father had when he came to England in the sixties
and because the police force was made up of mainly white males.’

She therefore joined BAPA as a member and went to the meetings where she
could, but felt the need to keep her membership secret from colleagues as she
thought she would be alienated. Having attended several meetings she could
really see the benefits in that they could share personal experiences, engage with
community members and have a voice. As her confidence grew, she would often
get requests to support BME officers through challenging times and this put them
at ease.

Insp Paul Lewin then left the organisation and Insp Karpaul Sihota became chair
of BAPA. Karpaul continued to support Kin and BME officers in the challenging
times. When Karpaul left the organisation, BAPA lost it focus through no fault of
anyone. Sgt Winston Christie was made temporary chair but had no vice chair to
support him. He struggled to keep the momentum going and BME staff and
communities were suffering due to the lack of voice in BAPA.

It was at this time that Kin briefed Insp Karen Geddes about BAPA and suggested
she applied for the chair’s role. Subsequently after a vote Karen became chair, Kin
became vice chair and Winston Christie became general secretary.

BAPA now has a full committee of members and has gone from strength to
strength. They work closely with other staff networks and the community at
large.

30

The Future is Bright –
the Future is BAPA

Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association

Kin feels their biggest achievement is the National BAPA conference last year
and the walk through Lozells. This was her neighbourhood and she was so
proud and pleased to see how the community reacted to this march.

She does regret that they haven’t achieved more. BME officers are not well
represented at many ranks and the force is not yet representative of the
communities it serves.

Sergeant Kin Devi

Nevertheless, there was some
organisational recognition as Kirk
Dawes became the first full time
Chair of the association. Funding was
also obtained from the force for the
first time.

There were several incidents where
members would ask for support for
an issue where perhaps they were
already receiving Police Federation
support which created tension with
the Federation. Some members of the
WMP Federation felt that BAPA was
duplicating their work and didn’t
understand what made BAPA
necessary. It took a while to convince some of the Federation representatives
that actually BAPA could enhance the support they were already offering, by
proving a BME perspective and support to a colleague who felt that it was
relevant and necessary. It could be that the individual was the only BME officer
in their team or felt that they were being targeted for their ethnicity. Either
way a BAPA representative could offer additional support in a way that the
Federation could not. Indeed, BAPA colleagues pushed the fact that rather
than duplicate their work they could enhance the support offered by the
Federation by providing a different outlook.
The founders of BAPA would also like it recorded how instrumental retired
Chief Superintendent Mick Layton was and to thank him for all of his support
for BME officers and the organisation. They recall him being very supportive,
raising awareness and generally helping to progress the good work of BAPA.

31

2005 – Marcia Francis joined West Midlands Police in 2005 after
quite a varied career including being a midwife, forensic scientist
and even spending some time working in a prison. She became a
detective early on and she now works within Public Protection
doing bespoke work around digital and on-line crime. She recalls
being encouraged to join BAPA from her early days with the force
but it wasn’t until recently that she decided to join and became the
General Secretary.
DC Marcia Francis

The Future

In 2015 the National BPA conference was held at Tally Ho and was a
resounding success. Speakers included Chief Constable David
Thompson QPM LLB and Home Secretary Theresa May, who spoke of
her disappointment that the police service as a whole had not done
more to improve the representation of BME officers in its ranks. This is the first
time a Home Secretary attended a BAPA conference, which demonstrates its rising
importance and influence.

WMBAPA members at the 2015 National BAPA conference held in Birmingham

32

The Future is Bright –
the Future is BAPA

Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association

2015 conference attendees along with Home Secretary Theresa May

Theresa May arriving for her speech at the 2015 conference
Today WMBAPA has a wide and varied membership with full and associate
members to include anyone working within West Midlands Police who wants
to help further the progression of BME representation within the service.
Retired members of the force are also welcome.
West Midlands Police has a number of initiatives in place to increase BME
representation including a Positive Action programme for BME recruits and
officers aspiring for promotion. Michelle Ugwueze is a part of this and
together with other officers offers vital support for officers at all stages of the
recruitment/promotion process.

33

Student officers at the BAPA student development event 2016

Inspector Karen Geddes is the current Chair and the group is well placed and
influential in key decision making and activities to help WMP become more
representative of the communities it serves.
As Winston Christie puts it:

‘The future is bright, the future is BAPA’.

34

The Future is Bright –
the Future is BAPA

Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association

With thanks…

Particular thanks to the following:

Karen Geddes (BAPA Chair)
Kin Devi (BAPA Vice-Chair)
Marcia Francis (BAPA General Secretary)

Winston Christie
Daphne Christie

Marcia Ore
Audrey King
Max Lewin
Andrea Reynolds
Althea Rhodd
Mohammed Khalid Kiyani
Verley Tyndale
Ramesh Kumar QPM
Tariq Somra
Mohamed Yusuf Daar
Yunus Daar
Matt Ward
Michelle Ugwueze
Paul Lewin
Kirk Dawes
The late Stan Bean
Karpaul Sihota

Thank you to the serving and retired officers who supplied photographs for
use in this publication.

Much of this material was gathered from a meeting held on the 8th August
2016 at Tally Ho! Police Training Centre between current and retired officers,
many of whom were original founders of BAPA. Huge thanks to these
individuals for their time and commitment to this project.

BAPA would like to thank Corinne Brazier for her time and effort writing this
booklet on behalf of the West Midlands Police Museum.

35

Achievements within West Midlands Police:

First BME male and female Sergeants – Ralph
Ramadhar and Julia Walsh

Sergeant
Ralph

Ramadhar &
Sergeant Julia

Walsh
First BME male
and female
Inspectors –
Paul Lewin
and Julia
Walsh

Inspector Paul Lewin
First female BME Chief
Inspector – Shindo
Barquer

First BME male Chief
Inspector and

Superintendent –
Surjeet Manku

Chief Superintendent Surjeet Manku QPM
(now retired)

36

The Future is Bright –
the Future is BAPA

Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association

*No female BME officer has yet been promoted to a rank above Chief
Inspector within West Midlands Police

First male BME Chief Superintendent – Max Sahota,
now ACC with the College of Policing
Assistant Chief Constable Max Sahota

First and only BME male Assistant Chief Constable Anil Patani
Assistant Chief Constable Anil Patani (now retired)

Awards

2002 – Ramesh Kumar becomes the first West Midlands Asian officer to receive
the QPM
2004 – Kirk Dawes receives the QPM
2010 – Shindo Barquer won the Chairman’s Award at the Asian Woman of
Achievement Awards
2013 – Surjeet Manku receives the QPM
2015 – Karen Geddes wins Diversity award at force Diamond Awards
2016 – Kiran Patel wins Student Officer of the Year award at force Diamond
Awards

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Dedicated to the memories of Sergeant Stan Bean and Sergeant
Ralph Ramadhar – true pioneers and trail blazers.

Stan Bean
1948-2007

Ralph Ramadhar
1937-1987

©West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association
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The Future is Bright –
the Future is BAPA

Celebrating 50 Years of Black and Ethnic Minority Officers in the West Midlands
and 20 Years of West Midlands Police Black and Asian Police Association

My destiny

The morning came and I rose with the sun
I skipped in my boots ‘til my beat was done
There was joy in my soul as I felt so fulfilled
Policing with passion as that was my will

My summers were long watching you while you slept
Your guardian, your Champion, whenever you wept
I pounded the beat in the snow and the rain
Just to respond to your calls and your pain

I left my family with intent to serve
To give you the best of me, which you deserved
My fingers were hardened with all my court files
So justice could measure what criminals defiled

I was proud to walk the policing beat
In autumn or winter ‘til pain gripped my feet
I watched over all, while you slept in your bed
Keeping you safe and protected from dread

When I kissed my children when leaving for work
And then kissed my partner as they ironed my shirts
I told them with happiness I would be home for tea
Not knowing that that was the last day for me

And now through my service I lay in my grave
I have no regrets, this role’s for the brave
I cannot respond to your calls anymore
As policing has caused me to knock heaven’s door

To all my dear loved ones, this you must know
I did not want to leave you’ I did not want to go
But Policing, my passion with all of its strife
For that I was willing to lay down my life

Now I am smiling I truly am free
I am dancing with angels it was my destiny
Yes, I’m still watching, I hope you can see
I am dancing with angels it was my destiny!

22/10/2015 ©copyright asserted by PC Andrea Reynolds 3555

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