When Parm Sandhu first joined the Police service 27 years ago, she had to hide it from her parents for the first six months.
"You are a woman. You like doing your nails and putting make-up on - you couldn't possibly be a police officer," she was told.
But the British-born Parma rose through the ranks to be the highest ranking Asian woman officer in London’s Metropolitan Police Service.
She was also awarded the prestigious Asian Woman of Achievement Award in the UK in 2006 after she became the Chief Inspector. She was also honoured that year for her work after the 7/7 bombings.
Parm Sandhu Source: BBC
Parm began her police career in 1989 as a constable, rising to the position of Sergeant in 1996 and then an inspector in 2000. Currently, she holds the rank of Temporary Chief Superintendent being the Borough Commander of Richmond, the first Asian woman in the history of the force to hold the position.
“When I started working for the London Police, there were very very few black officers, Asian officers and even fewer female officers. And it’s very different now because on every single team you will get officers from diverse backgrounds, and the support network is there now,” Ms Sandhu told BBC.
Joining the police wasn’t easy for her as her parents didn’t want her to go that way.
“My father was horrified. The thought of his little girl rolling around on the floor, wrestling with people that was what he had in front of his mind. But thankfully, I managed to calm him down.”
“Some of the questions I was asked- well you are a woman, you like doing nails, you like putting make-up on. You couldn’t possibly be a police officer,” she said.
The 52-year-old mother of two says she has a good balance in her career and family.
“The assumption is you have to choose between a career and having a family. That’s not true. You can have both.”
Being a woman officer is a challenge.
“It’s quite difficult when you walk into a room full of men and you are representing 400-500 people from your borough, and that is a challenge and I deal with it on a daily basis,” she says.
“The only barriers I face are the ones I put myself. If I say I can’t go any further, then that’s it. That’s where the game ends but if I keep striving and I keep trying, I don’t necessarily see that there’s a locked door or a glass ceiling. I think I can get past that,” she adds.
