The London Metropolitan Police Department added their first black police constable when they hired Norwell Roberts in March 1967. Days later, Roberts started the Metropolitan Police Academy on April 3, 1967 and would go on to tabulate a 30-year police constable career as one of Metro’s finest.
Not bad for a black man who, as a three-year-old boy originating in Anguilla, lost his father, for years watched his mother toil to make ends meet, and confronted prejudice throughout his police/civilian life. Having struggled in the West Indies, Roberts’s mother brought him to the United Kingdom in search of better opportunities for a more optimal life.
So unorthodox was his newfound station in life that the British tabloid Daily Telegraph printed a story with the self-explanatory headline “London to have first coloured Policeman soon.” American new sources also jumped on the first black Bobby bandwagon, printing stories to include “London gets first negro cop.”
Unfortunately, the land of Royalty turned out to be royally racist treatment for PC Roberts.
“He said the worst was from his own colleagues and, in particular, a very racist sergeant. He still said he loved being and was proud of being a policeman!”
Interviewed on a British TV show in August 2016, PC Roberts expressed how his days as a London Metro cop were met with standoffish behavior. Being the only black Bobby on the London force was no spot of tea.
Londoner Steve Aston explained: “This policeman was interviewed on TV a couple of months back [in 2016], and the racial abuse he got was unbelievable. He said the worst was from his own colleagues and, in particular, a very racist sergeant. He still said he loved being and was proud of being a policeman! Good on ya mate!”
Like most cops I know, certain upbringing (or lack thereof) tends to be a catalyst to join the police profession. Many aspiring LEOs experienced adverse conditions in their life course, from bullying to being under-foot and around the din of domestic violence to alcoholism to absent parent(s).
Cops endure much before donning a badge, and PC Roberts was no exception. After his biological father died when he was a toddler, his mom remarried a man who was violent and abusive to her. In actuality, Roberts’ real surname is Gumbs. He opted-out of going by his surname and eventually assumed his mother’s maiden name, Roberts.
Having been brought-up by strict grandparents, as a boy, the slightest hint of “being naughty” resulted in his grandmother and grandfather (a policeman and preacher) donning him in dresses and sending him out in public to run errands. Imagine that! As Roberts recounts the humiliating experience in a dress, “I tried not to be naughty too often.”
Perhaps stemming from his rather arduous life journey, Roberts reconstituted the many hardships and racial disparities, turning it all into usable material with which he pinnacled as a police constable.
Faustina’s TV interview of Norwell Roberts in 2016 labeled him “resilient” and “vibrant with energy” which, as any police officer can attest, are staples in the trade. The Fauntee Show printed a bio depicting Roberst, saying, “His resilience, courage and bravery in the face of intense racism has been a source of courage for many people of colour.”
As Roberts puts it, “Racism is covert…it’s not obvious.” He seems to maintain a “sink or swim” mentality, and that may have catapulted him to where he is today: alive, well, and entertaining bygones.
Throughout several interviews of Roberts, you can’t miss his oft-stated phrase “Just get on with it!” He did, and he succeeded to the point where everyone now wants to talk to the guy who at first no one wanted around.
Black Bloke Among London’s Bobbies
Typically known as short or slang for Robert, London’s cops were called “Bobbies”…so named after Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel whose solicitation of the Metropolitan Police Act was passed on June 19, 1829. The all-white police Bobbies added its first black Bobby, Norwell Roberts.
Roberts first had the idea to apply for a police job after seeing an advertisement in The Daily Mirror. As he recounts, he thought he’d apply “for a laugh.” Whether the joke was on him or not, to his surprise he was accepted into the blue world of Bobbies.
PC Roberts did not stand out for any difference in English-speaking tongue but for his racial origin. His first day on the job was met with derision by his sergeant who, according to Roberts, said “Look, you nigger, I’ll see to it you never pass your probation!” He says he shrugged his shoulders and walked away, again evincing the “just get on with it” mantra.
Roberts describe his “training days” with exemplifications of the resilience for which he became known. “The other policemen spat at me, they threw cups of pee at me, I was ostracized” Roberts relives. Why such cruel behavior towards him, from his own police colleagues? “Because they wanted me to leave,” said Roberts.
His rock-solid persona enables him to call himself the “black bloke” who is grateful to some folks who gave him the opportunity. That is pure grace and humility in the face of Royalty and racial disparity.
Despite race-borne adversity, PC Roberts went on to endure and overcome racism among his police peers and some of the public he served. Achieving police stature and royal respect, PC Roberts garnered various medals for exemplary police service in a city where cops were armed with a mere whistle.
To his multitude of credits, mostly his personality and character traits, Roberts is also “the first black man to join CID and the first black man to get the Queen’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service.”
It is not every man or police officer who gets their own Wikipedia page. Upon Norwell Roberts’ it is said, “On 15 March 1996, Roberts attended Buckingham Palace where he was presented with the [Queen’s Police] medal by Prince Charles. During the presentation, Prince Charles told Roberts that ‘We need more people like you.'”
How is a man so racially discriminated against so resilient to where he maintains composure among police culture? He refers to the “media frenzy” and how so very many see him as “the first.” He champions breaking through barriers, even if he started his endeavor as a joke. At this point, no one is laughing. Many are cheering. So is he.
So endeared is Roberts to his Metropolitan Police blokes that he attends newly-graduated police recruits’ celebrations, cheering on the latest batch of British cops…as a Bobby among Bobbies.
Since Roberts first joined the Metropolitan police force and rather unwittingly became the first black police officer in London, others of color followed in his footsteps and suited-up in Bobby-blue.
The Other “First”
The subject of much debate involves PC Roberts and another “first black police officer” by the name of John Kent. PC Kent served as Britain’s first-ever black cop with the Carlisle City Police in 1837. According to archived records, Kent was dismissed after seven years’ service for reportedly imbibing a tad too much on the job.
Besides his alcoholic tendencies, PC Kent was known as “Black Kent” while serving among his white police peers.
Nevertheless, PC Roberts served with distinction and is just as robust today as he was throughout his 30 years as London’s first black Bobby.
