Come for a meeting Twining? No thank you, Sir?

A tribute to Noddy

Scene 1

I was working when I got a phone call from the ACC's Secretary, "Can you come and see the ACC now please?" I knew then this wasn't a can you come please, it was more like, make your way. I was nearly wee'ing myself then being younger in service. A Senior Black officer didn't want to help me. It was time to sink or swim. I asked, " What is it about?" I was advised it was nothing to worry about. My instinct was otherwise. This was something to worry about. I was going to get a bollocking.

Scene 2

I knocked on the door, "Twining come in," said the ACC, "I'm not so happy." I stood there. Him behind his desk. He never even asked me to sit down. "Sorry Sir," I said. "I'm not so happy that a BPA member attends a meeting on racist incidents and then when they are asked about recruiting, they openly suggest to Black peopl present that if we recruit more minority ethnic officers, we simply do not have the support for these officers. That shows us ina bad light. " I was Chair of the local BPA then, thats' why I was called. I said, "Well he was asked and he was being honest. You have to ask yourself why more and more Black officers are seeking support," intimating clearly that there were difficulties. At this point I remember being stood there, looking at a picture on his wall. He was scribbling a note. "I'm not having it, you know, I won't have it. Take this message back, I won't have it." I thought, what does he mean, what won't he have? "I understand what you're saying Sir, but I won't have my members lie," I said. I remember the ACC's voice was raised, perhaps he was shouting at me. It was not pleasant. He had called me in to put me in my place, to tell me off, for another colleague being honest. I left, with my tail between my legs he thought, but I had not lost. I was upset, but it was this Senior officer that had lost it totally in the meeting.

Scene 3

I walk out of the office and walk back to my office swearing and cursing in my own mind and wondering how a Senior Officer could behave like this and treat us like slaves. Those that saw me might have seen me whipsering to myself. Then I found the answer, the ACC was the Senior Officer; I was merely a Black or Asian Sergeant, that's all, and he thought by telling me off, at this point I dissssssssss again, he might warn me off. That experience still lives with me years later. Noddy, sorry, only three scenes, and only me and the ACC in this. I did go back and speak to my colleague and I actually said, "You know what you didn't do anything wrong." He was fuming and ready to walk straight into the ACC's office to give him another bitter pill to swallow, a mouthfull, but for that he would have been disciplined for subordination. That Chief Officer was soon after promoted.