Shabnam Chaudhri has become the first Asian and Muslim woman to be appointed as detective superintendent of the Scotland Yard for her “outstanding contribution”.
Having been in the police force since 1989, British-Pakistani Shabnam Chaudhri moved to the UK from Karachi at the age of 2.
Her parents were initially against her career choice and would have preferred that she settled down and had children. Chaudhri expressed, “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.”
In the span of 28 years of police service, Chaudhri has won dozens of awards for her work in London. She is currently the only Muslim woman detective within the Met police, and the only at this rank nationally.
