Angela Simpson, a police officer

Clip Angela Simpson

When I spoke to my mother about joining the police service she was dead set against（竭力反对，坚决反对） it because of the fact that I’m female and I’m black and because of all the negative publicity that the police had had in her era when she actually came to the country so she was totally dead set against me joining.

Sue: In Private lives today we meet Angela Simpson. Angela is 29 years old, and she was born and brought up in Leeds, a large city in the north of England. Angela is a police officer, and she has special responsibility for recruiting young people from ethnic minorities（少数民族） who are interested in a career in the police service. During the programme, we’ll hear Angela talk about where she lives, and what she enjoys doing on a typical night in and a typical night out. She also talks about her family, and she describes how she thinks being a police officer has changed her over the years. First, we learn a little about Angela’s background and her childhood in a multicultural （多种文化的）suburb of Leeds.

 

Clip Angela Simpson

My parents came to England in the 1960s, early 1960s from Jamaica, and I remember living in the Harehills area of Leeds which I really enjoyed as a child because of the fact that I distinctly （明显的，清楚的）remember that on my left there were neighbours who were Irish and from there we had people who were Sikh, Hindu, Pakistani, African-Carribbean all in this long street. I remember at school, it was quite a multicultural environment the fact that I had friends from different backgrounds and different walks of life and for me I have really happy childhood memories it wasn’t until really I started working where I felt like I was in the minority.

Sue: Angela began her working life at Customs and Excise - a British government department which is responsible for collecting duty on imported goods for example. She had an administrative job and she was bored. When she decided she wanted to become a police officer, her mother tried to discourage her, fearing her daughter would face racial prejudice（偏见，成见） and sexual discrimination（歧视）. Angela wasn’t put off - although the training was tough, and she says she found it especially difficult, since she was from an ethnic minority background. After training school, Angela became a foot patrol （巡逻，巡查）officer, and her day-to-day duties included dealing with shoplifters, domestic incidents and road accidents. She worked in a different part of Leeds from where she was brought up and she explains why. 

 

Clip Angela Simpson

I would never ever work in the area that I was brought up in which is Leeds in the Harehills area because of the fact that I do know a lot of people that I went to school with, a lot of people who have been in trouble as well and just from some of the comments that have been said when I’ve been out with my friends, especially if somebody doesn’t like somebody from the police force then they’re going to say negative things about you. And I’ve got to think of my family as well who still live in that area which is the most important thing to me regardless of the job really so I would never, ever work in Leeds where I was brought up.

Sue: Angela is no longer a foot patrol officer “on the beat” - on duty, walking the local area she was responsible for. She enjoys her new role as a recruiting liaison officer（联络官）, and she’s working very hard to attract young people from ethnic minority backgrounds into the police service. However, Angela is clear that her police work on the beat - some of it with people whose living conditions shocked her because they were so poor - made her a more confident, committed officer and a stronger person.

 

Clip Angela Simpson

I was on the beat for 6 . years and initially when I first joined the police service I was quite quiet, very reserved, surprisingly enough, yeah just very quiet natured really and over the years it’s helped me develop my confidence, develop the way I can communicate with people. I think that’s quite important because there were quite a few times where initially where I thought well is this really job for me - I don’t think I can make the grade - but I’m glad that I stuck at it and it has sort of like made me the person that I am today.

Sue: Police work often means irregular working hours, or “shifts”, so keeping up with friends outside the police service can be difficult. Also, not surprisingly, police officers tend to socialise together when they’re not on duty, and sometimes romantic relationships develop. 

 

Clip Angela Simpson

You will find that police officers male and female will actually get together I think that it’s probably because they work quite closely, they’re working similar shifts - sometimes it’s very difficult to form a relationship outside the job especially if the other person doesn’t understand the shift system. It’s like another family really. The disadvantage is that sometimes your whole life can revolve around（以。。。为主要内容）the police service and I think you’ve got to be very, very careful that you’re not sort of like isolating（孤立的，绝缘的） your other friends. I think it’s very important to have friends outside the job, as well as inside.

Sue: When Angela was a fairly new police officer she met another probationer（试用人员） working the same shifts as her. She says that because they were “both in the same boat” they became good friends, and then they started going out together. It was to be a significant relationship in her life. 

 

Clip Angela Simpson

I used to live with a police officer about a year and a half ago now. Initially we were really good friends because of the fact that we worked on the same shift. From then on obviously（显然的） romance blossomed and we became quite close and we finally lived together for quite a while. All in all we were together for five years. However, we then decided it was time to go in different directions which is fine really.

Sue: Since then, Angela has had more time to spend with her female friends, and recently, she even sold her furniture to pay for a holiday with a girlfriend. They went to Tenerife in the Canary Islands - which is a popular destination for British holiday-makers. Angela says it’s a little like Blackpool. Blackpool is a hugely popular sea-side resort on the North West coast of England, with hi-tech roller-coaster rides and discos. 

 

Clip Angela Simpson

The last time I went on holiday was last April. I sold all my furniture and my house and went to Tenerife with my girlfriend. It’s a holiday that I’ve never been away with a female friend before and it was something that I always wanted to do but never had the opportunity, so I did it. Tenerife is quite a lively, touristy place a bit like sunny Blackpool in England. Although I enjoyed it it’s something that I would never do again it’s somewhere I would never, ever go again but it was something I had to do then, so I did. I would like to go to Jamaica, the last time I went was when I was seven, and although quite a lot of my family have moved away from Jamaica and now live in England, Canada and America there’s still some family left there and plus I’d like to see where my roots are really - where my parents are from.

Sue: A trip to Jamaica is one of Angela’s long-term ambitions（雄心，野心）. This year, she can’t afford a holiday. So, she plans to visit friends in other parts of Britain, driving her jeep-like car, which her friends have nick-named “monster truck”. On the cassette player, （卡式录音机）as Angela drives, she’ll play a cover version of song called “I will survive”. Because she’s still adjusting to life as a single young woman again, the lyrics have special meaning for her.

 

Clip Angela Simpson

At the moment I’m continuously playing the old Gloria Gaynor hit ‘I will survive’. It’s a new version by a soul singer called Chantay Savage, which I play over and over again. For me I just love that song because it says everything. The fact that this woman has obviously gone through a bad time, a bad relationship but she’s saying despite that I’ve come up on top, I will survive and I don’t really need you any more.

Sue: Angela’s recently moved house. And, according to her friends, she’s made an unusual choice for an energetic, outgoing, young person. 

 

Clip Angela Simpson

I live just outside of Wakefield which is called the Hall Green area and I live in a two bedroomed bungalow with a front and rear garden, two bedrooms, a dining room, living room kitchen and bathroom. I’ve only lived there for a week but I really like it, it’s quiet, which is what I like. Some of my friends have commented and actually said that it’s funny I live in a bungalow （平房）because a bungalow is associated with somebody that’s elderly and it’s not really the image that they expect me to live in something like that but I like it, it’s really nice.

Sue: On a typical evening in, Angela can be found watching television in the living room. She admits that she doesn’t cook for herself very often - she’s more likely to go to her mother’s or a friend’s house for an evening meal. And on a typical night out, Angela enjoys eating at one of her many local restaurants. 

 

Clip Angela Simpson

A night in for me would be possibly sitting in front of the television eating a box of chocolates that’s my favourite really. I’m not a person that cooks very often and if anything I do tend to go to my mother’s or my friend’s house who lives near by and I do like eating out at different restaurants Chinese, Indian and Italian are my favourites. 

Sue: To end the programme, Angela talks about her family. They’re very close and spend a lot of time together. Angela admires her sister, who’s 5 years older than her and a midwife （助产士，接生员）at a local hospital. But both sisters, share the same role model.

 

Clip Angela Simpson

I think for me my mother is my role model because she’s a very humble person and the fact that if anything she brought myself and my sister up single handedly ‘cos my father wasn’t around and to do something like that is something I’m very, very proud of and I remember that she’s always said that you can do anything you want don’t let anybody say to you can’t do that and she’s always strived for me and my sister to do well and I just really hope that she’s, well in fact I do know she’s proud of me now although she had her reservations about me actually joining the police she’s very, very proud now.