Fay Allen
Sislin Fay Allen (born c. 1939), known as Fay Allen,[1] was the first non-white woman police constable in the United Kingdom, serving in the Metropolitan Police in London from 1968 to 1972.
Allen was born in Jamaica.[1][2] She qualified as a state registered nurse[3] and worked at the Queen's Hospital, Croydon, a geriatric hospital in South London.[4] She was married to a fellow Jamaican immigrant and had two children,[4] although one was probably born after her service.[3] She had always been interested in the police and in 1968 saw a recruitment advertisement in the newspaper, applied, and was selected.[4] The first black male officer, Norwell Roberts, had only joined the Metropolitan Police the previous year.
After training at Peel House[5][6] she was posted to Fell Road police station in Croydon, where she lived, on 29 April 1968, aged 29.[3] She experienced more prejudice from the black community than from her colleagues or from white people in Croydon,[4] and was met largely with curiosity and considerable interest from the media, although the Metropolitan Police did receive some racist mail about her appointment,[4][1] which initially made her consider whether she wanted to remain in the force.[7] 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.[4]
In 1972, she resigned from the Metropolitan Police to return to Jamaica with her family. There she joined the Jamaica Constabulary Force.[4] Eventually she returned to England and now lives in South London.[4]
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Fair Cop: A Century of British Policewomen, BBC, 2015
- ↑ "Sislin Fay Allen", Getty Images
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Coloured woman P-c for Croydon", The Times, 27 April 1968
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 "Sislin Fay Allen Britain’s First Black Policewoman", Black History Month 2015
- ↑ "Jamaican Policewoman Joins Force", British Pathé
- ↑ "Sislin Fay Allen", Getty Images
- ↑ The Times, 30 April 1968
