Pakistani-origin woman appointed Scotland Yard detective superintendent

LONDON: A British Pakistani woman has been appointed as the first ever Muslim on the position of a detective superintendent of the Scotland Yard.

Shabnam Chaudhri, who moved to Britain with her parents from Karachi at the age of 2, has been appointed detective superintendent of the Metropolitan Police Service for her ‘outstanding contribution’ to the fight against hate crime and criminal gangs.

According to UK Metropolitan website, she joined police in 1989 in London against the wishes of her parents who wanted her to get married and have children.

“My parents wanted me to get married early and settle down. I opposed and joined the police to make a difference. When my parents saw that I was fighting crimes and helping people in need, they became happy and proud of me. Those were times when there were not many Asian and Muslim women in the police. Women from our background are still reluctant to come to the police but I think they should apply for the police jobs.”

The website says: Shabnam is seen as a role model, both internally and externally within communities across London. She is committed to engaging with diverse communities and has delivered a number of events across London on hate crime, domestic abuse, and delivers empowerment presentations to women from the hard to reach groups.
In November 2016 she led the Girls Allowed event for over 400 young girls between the ages of 14 – 25, attended by the Deputy Mayor of Policing and Crime Sophie Linden. “

She has won dozens of awards for serving across London in her carrier that spans 28 years of police service.

Shabnam works with women to raise awareness around issues such as hate crime and domestic abuse, and delivers empowerment presentations to women from hard to reach groups and communities who would not otherwise engage with police.

“Becoming detective superintendent is a big achievement for me because I worked for 6 years for this position. I have fought crime gangs, I have been kicked, attacked, punched, assaulted, chased and gangs have targeted me. I worked at the London Olympics and at many other high profile events. I was supported by my bosses for this position when I applied for it. I would like more Muslim and Asian women to be in the police,” she said.