Two Roads bags story of Met’s first Black police officer

Two Roads has acquired I Am Norwell Roberts, the story of the Met’s first Black police officer.

Kate Hewson, publishing director, bought UK and Commonwealth rights from Kate Evans at PFD. It will be released in June 2022. A documentary by Revelation Films with the same title is currently in production. 

The publisher synopsis reads: “Norwell Roberts, the Met’s first Black police officer in 1967, found out he had a new job the same way the rest of the country did—from a Daily Telegraph headline that read ’Met to Have First Coloured Policeman’. From that day forward his face became a symbol—of acceptance, of a diverse police force, of a changing Britain. He was turned into the poster boy for progressive policing—but his day-to-day reality was anything but. Greeted with prejudice, ridicule and rejection, he refused to quit. And thus began an extraordinary career that placed him on the frontlines for a tumultuous period in Britain’s history. This is the story of the man behind the headlines in his own words.”  

Hewson said: “Norwell’s story is an integral part of the story of policing in this country and a missing part of the publishing around that. But beyond its historic importance it is just a completely brilliant memoir—a powerful voice telling the story of London in the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, and of how a 20-year-old, born in Anguilla, and schooled in Kent, found his way into the British history books and navigated a prejudiced institution to establish a legacy that continues to this day. We are privileged to be publishing it.” 

Roberts said: “I am pleased to have been given the opportunity to tell my story and I hope that it will be an inspiration to others.”