Pioneering Black Female Cop Shares 35-Year Journey in New Memoir

In November 2025, Beverly Douglas, a trailblazing black female police officer, is set to release a new book chronicling her remarkable 35-year career with the Avon and Somerset Police. As the longest-serving black female officer in the force, Douglas has overcome significant challenges to pursue her passion for law enforcement.

Growing up in the Easton area of Bristol as a Windrush child, Douglas initially planned to join the British Army after school. However, when she "failed miserably" at the recruitment exam, she was forced to rethink her career path. It was then that she was inspired to join the police force after positive interactions with "very kind" and "positive" community officers during her school days.

Despite the high tensions between the police and Bristol's black communities in the early 1980s, following the 1980 St Pauls Riot, Douglas was determined to make a difference. "I felt confident that I could make a difference and the only way I could make a difference was if I was part of the establishment and part of the organization that everybody was berating and saying was institutionally racist," she explains.

Douglas's journey was not without its challenges, as she faced hostility and racism from both the public and the black community, who viewed her as a "traitor" and a "sell-out" for her career choice. However, she credits her colleagues in the police organization as a "lifeline" throughout the hardships she faced, stating that "if I didn't have that support, there's no way I would've remained in that organization for so many years."

Despite the ups and downs, Douglas says she would "absolutely" relive her experience working in the police, and hopes that her book will encourage other aspiring officers who "want to make a difference" to embark on a similar career path. "Sislin Fay Allen opened the door as the first black police officer of the Met. On her shoulders, I stand," she adds.