Chief Superintendent Manjit Atwal is retiring after 28 years with Leicestershire Police, which paid rich tributes to her for her committed service over the years. The British Indian police chief has served as chair of two staff networks, been a hostage negotiator for 12 years, been named Probationer of the Year, Beat Bobby of the Year, Civil Servant of the Year Award and also awarded the Queen’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service (QPM).
As one of the first Sikh women to work for the city’s force, Atwal retires as one of the highest-ranking Sikh female police officers in the UK. She is currently on secondment to the College of Policing where she is the Strategic Lead for Violence Against Women and Girls and Op Soteria – the national programme to improve the police service’s response to rape and serious sexual offences.
She said: “I have always thought the Sikh beliefs of equality, honesty, humility and sewa, which means service, are the same as the principles at the heart of policing and are the reasons for the success of my police career and my wider engagement across our diverse communities. I have always supported the progression of female police officers and staff, as well as those from black and minority ethnic communities, and male colleagues across policing locally and nationally.”
Atwal joined the police in 1996 after she moved to Leicestershire from Derbyshire following an arranged marriage and had two small children. She had originally planned to go into nursing and got into Leicester Nursing School but, due to culture clashes with the family she married into, she was unable to take up the post. However, after going to a police recruitment event with a friend she had a new plan.
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She recalls: “The recruiting sergeant asked me how I was going to cope on night shifts with two young children and that just make me more determined to prove that I could do it. In those days you did 15 weeks at Ryton followed by a week in the community, which involved spending a day at a funeral-directors, a children’s home, the ambulance service, fire brigade and a day visiting religious establishments across the city including a temple, church, gurdwara and synagogue.
“I honestly think that week was brilliant – it gave me a great understanding about the work of so many other agencies which I found useful throughout my career.”
Atwal is chair of Leicestershire’s Sikh Police Association, raising awareness of the faith in force and supporting other Sikh colleagues and she is also chair of the Women’s Inclusive Network (WIN) and was instrumental in setting up the Keep in Touch (KiT) days, supporting officers and staff on maternity and paternity leave.
She shared: “I am really proud of how the KiT days have gone from strength to strength over the last six years and seeing the lecture theatre get fuller every time and I know they will continue to grow and support many others long after I have left.
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“When I started at Welford Road, I was a General Duties Officer or GDO. I was given the choice of a skirt or culottes and I had a handbag with a small truncheon. We had brown pocketbooks, which the sergeant would randomly check, and we had ticket books with carbon paper in them so that if you wrote on the top copy it appeared on the sheet underneath as well – they were known as ‘pinks’.
“As I leave, I reflect on a fulfilling police career where I have worked with some exceptional officers and staff including forensics, admin support, analysts, comms teams and CMD staff – they have always had my back, so I have always strived to support police staff and officers who are younger in service than me, especially those from underrepresented groups. I have made so many friends for life. If you’d told me when I joined all those years ago that I’d be a Chief Superintendent, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
The force’s Chief Constable, Rob Nixon QPM, noted: “I have had the pleasure of working with Manjit across her entire service. It has been a privilege to see her grow and develop in different roles and ranks. She is an individual who makes a difference and puts her all into everything she does.
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“We are immensely proud of her and all she has achieved and she will be deeply missed. She has certainly made her mark on policing and her legacy will live on in so many ways as she enters the next chapter. Thank you Manjit.”
*Info: Leicestershire Police
