‘We want to inspire people who look like us’: Meet the rising young officers transforming the police force

Young police officers who have recently joined the force have opened up about how they’re promoting diversity and changing the image of policing.

BBC Three’s Fresh Cops gives a peek into what goes on during shifts with Leicestershire’s youngest police officers as they learn the ropes of life on the frontline.

From sudden deaths to modern slavery, they’re ready to tackle it all and are bringing a whole new image to policing at the same time.

Metro.co.uk caught up with two of the stars of Fresh Cops, Khadeejah Mansur and Adam Ahmed, about what it’s really like being on the frontline and changing the face of policing at the same time.

Khadeejah is the first frontline police officer to wear the hijab as part of her uniform. And although she may be slight in stature, she holds a black belt in karate and is a prime example of a book that can’t be judged by its cover.

Speaking about trialling a hijab as part of police uniform, a project in which she was ‘heaving involved’ in, Khadeejah told us: ‘You don’t really see police officers that look like me anyway,’ adding that it amplified her desire for the opportunity, giving people a chance to see things from a ‘different light’.

Khadeejah is the first frontline police officer to wear the hijab as part of her uniform (Picture: BBC)

Khadeejah also spoke about how being a young Muslim police officer is changing the stereotypes of the police force.

‘I look the way I do and my background has never stopped me joining the police, it’s very diverse,’ Khadeejah shared.

She continued: ‘There were a lot of people that I spoke to, in terms of young Muslim women that joined, and they did speak to me and say, “You know what, if we hadn’t seen you we would have been really nervous of joining because we didn’t want to be the first.”

‘I guess it’s that one person that can make a difference, and that’s a proud moment for me because that’s what I wanted when I joined, because it’s a big thing having that representation.’

Towards the end of the series, Khadeejah proves she’s becoming more assertive in difficult situations when onlookers during a situation show some hostility towards the police.

Despite standing her ground in that moment, Khadeejah also opened up about the difficulties she can face being a woman, and her fears at first.

‘Honestly at first, because of my build, because I’m quite petite and small, I thought no one was going to take me seriously as a police officer,’ she admitted.

‘But when I’m with crewmates and my team, a lot of people do still show you the respect of the uniform you do wear.

‘A lot of times it might not be like that, but on most occasions when you have more down to earth kind of things than fights and stuff, it doesn’t prevent me from doing my job.

‘I think people care more about how you communicate with them than how you look, and sometimes the less intimidating look really does help, so I can use that to my advantage I guess, compared to other people.’

Adam also told Metro.co.uk about his experience as a Police Sergeant, having been the first police officer of Somalian heritage to join Leicestershire Police.

Adam is the first police officer of Somalian heritage to join Leicestershire Police (Picture: BBC)

Speaking about joining Fresh Cops, Adam told us: ‘It was just an opportunity for us to essentially showcase the work that we do, and in particular, showing the minority community in our society what we actually do from a day to day perspective.

‘If I can do it, I’m sure you guys can do it as well.

‘There was an element of trying to encourage young people from the BAME community to also consider applying as well, because we’ve currently got a recruitment drive going on as well.

‘So that was my only real motivation really, to show a different perspective.’

In the final episode of the series, Adam returns to his home patch to do some outreach policing with children from his Somali community, determined to recruit as many of them as he can.

When joining the force, Adam admitted his initial interest had sparked from the criminal justice system, but this quickly changed.

‘But now, if you look at it, it’s completely a 360 turn, in fact people are very supportive and happy, they can see the positives of having someone, particularly from the Somali community, within the organisation itself, and having that representation.’

Adam also opened up about racism he’s faced while doing his job, saying ‘a lot’ of the racism he’s faced comes from ‘cheap shots’.

The first series follows Adam, Khadeejah and Jack on the frontline (Picture: BBC)

‘But, that person gets dealt with, they get put through the criminal justice process, and we’ve also got great support in place and networks as well, who are a great help and support people.’

He elsewhere told us about the reaction from people in his community watching him on the show, and seeing someone that looks like them in the police force.

‘It’s really been good feedback, even out in the community as well. People watch the show, and they stop me and say, “We’ve watched the show it’s really good.”

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‘It’s not like your stereotypical police interceptors or traffic cops or you know those other pieces, it’s different. I think that that has basically shown people in a different light.

‘In fact, someone came up to me and said to me, “I had a different view of policing until I watched the show, when I watched the show you actually changed my view points,” and this is someone that works in the shop that I normally go to.

‘So it’s having a really positive impact at the minute, which is great – it’s what we want.’

Fresh Cops is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

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BBC Three’s Fresh Cops follows new police officers on the frontline.