As one of only a handful of black police officers in the West Midlands 50 years ago, a time when racism riddled society, Kirk Dawes suffered while wearing blue serge.
Within his community there were those who considered his decision to join West Midlands Police an act of treachery. He had entered into a pact with the enemy.“In the black community at that time there was a lack of trust and confidence in the police,” Kirk said. “And there was this black guy joining the other side.
That CV is testament to the man’s stubborn refusal to submit to racism. “I’ve had a charmed life,” Kirk shrugged modestly. “I started at Willenhall and that was my first experience of racist attitudes,” Kirk said. “At training school I was called ‘sambo’ and treated a bit differently. There were 108 people there and I was the only black person.”Kirk’s family were hardly welcomed with open arms when they moved to St Chad’s Estate in Bilston. A petition raised in a bid to block their arrival made headlines in the Star.
“It wasn’t about wanting to do a public service, I just wanted to be a copper, there was just something within me that wanted to be a police officer. “Eventually, in what must have been seconds but felt like an age, I went down to the floor. Some ran up to the fence throwing bricks at me as I curled up in the foetal position trying to protect my head. I genuinely thought I was going to die.
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