Norwell roberts biography examples

British police constable

Norwell Lionel RobertsQPM (né Gumbs; born 23 October 1946) is a British former police constable—the first black police officer to join London's Metropolitan Police.^[1] He eventually rose to the rank of Detective Sergeant.

During his career, he was considered to be the first black police officer in the United Kingdom, although it has since been discovered that he had been preceded by Metropolitan Police Superintendent Robert Branford^[2] and Constable John Kent in Carlisle,^[3] both in the 19th century.

Early life

Norwell Roberts was born Norwell Lionel Gumbs^[4] on 23 October 1946 in Anguilla, in the Leeward Islands in the West Indies.^[1]

His grandfather was a police sergeant, and three uncles were high-ranking officers, one of whom was awarded the Colonial Police Medal for his services.

They all attended 12-week courses on the familiarisation of police procedure at Hendon Police Co