Fay Allen
Fay Allen | |
---|---|
Born | Sislin Fay Allen 1939 |
Died | 5 July 2021 Ocho Rios, Jamaica |
Known for | First black woman police constable in the United Kingdom |
Police career | |
Department | Metropolitan Police Jamaica Constabulary Force |
Branch | Missing Persons Bureau |
Service years | 1968–1972 (Met) 1972–? (JCF) |
Status | Retired |
Awards | Lifetime achievement award |
Sislin Fay Allen (20 March 1938
Early life and family
Allen was born in Jamaica,
Career
Allen had always been interested in the police and in 1968 saw a recruitment advertisement in the newspaper, applied, and was selected.[9] The first black officer in the British police since the 19th century, Norwell Roberts, had only joined the Metropolitan Police the previous year. "On the day I joined I nearly broke a leg trying to run away from reporters," she told an interviewer later. "I realised then that I was a history maker. But I didn't set out to make history; I just wanted a change of direction."[10]
After training at Peel House[11] for 13 weeks,[12] she was posted to Fell Road police station in Croydon, where she lived, on 29 April 1968, aged 29.[8] She experienced more prejudice from the black community than from her colleagues or from white people in Croydon,[9] and was met largely with curiosity and considerable interest from the media, although the Metropolitan Police did receive some racist mail about her appointment.[3][9] The threatening and abusive letters she received when she started working at Fell Road made her consider whether she wanted to remain in the force.[13][14][15] After a year in Croydon, she was posted to the Missing Persons Bureau at Scotland Yard for a while before being transferred back to the beat at Norbury police station.[9]
Later years
In 1972, she resigned from the Metropolitan Police to return to Jamaica with her family. There she joined the Jamaica Constabulary Force.[9] Eventually, she returned to England; as of 2015, she lived in South London.[9] In 2020, she was given a lifetime achievement award by the National Black Police Association.[16]
She died in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, in July 2021, aged 83. Her death was announced on 5 July.[17]
Legacy
Allen has been an inspiration to women wanting to join the police and especially for black women police officers such as Commander Alison Heydari.[18][19]
Footnotes
- ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
- ^ "Britain's first black policewoman, Sislin Fay Allen, dies at 83 in Jamaica". Jamaica Observer. 6 July 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
- ^ a b c Fair Cop: A Century of British Policewomen, BBC, 2015.
- ^ "Sislin Fay Allen", Getty Images.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "FIRST BLACK LONDON WPC LIVED IN THORNTON HEATH". Thornton Heath Chronicle. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ a b "Coloured woman P-c for Croydon", The Times, 27 April 1968.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Sislin Fay Allen Britain’s First Black Policewoman", Black History Month, 25 August 2015.
- ^ "100 years of women in the Met Police". BBC Newsround. 15 February 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
- ^ "Jamaican Policewoman Joins Force", British Pathé
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ The Times, 30 April 1968
- OCLC 38732030.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Sislin Fay Allen: Britain's first black policewoman dies aged 83". BBC News. 6 July 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
- ^ "Sislin Fay Allen: Britain's first black policewoman dies in Jamaica". Sky News. 5 July 2021.
- ^ "Black History Month: What it was like for Sislin Fay Allen, Britain's first black policewoman". Sky News. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
- ^ Ormiston, Sam (27 April 2022). "Black mum became cop while raising 3 children to 'change the Met from within'". My London. Retrieved 10 March 2024.