True Story About London’s First Black Policeman is Coming to the Big Screen

*The story about the U.K.’s first Black police officer is coming to the big screen.

As Variety reports, Revelation Films has acquired worldwide rights to “I Am Norwell Roberts,” the autobiography of Norwell Roberts who, in 1967, became the Metropolitan Police’s first Black cop. 

Per Variety, “The film will be set against the other momentous events in the U.K. Black community that coincided with the trajectory of his life,” the outlet writes. According to the article, Norwell found out he had the job from a Daily Telegraph news report. The headline at the time read ‘MET TO HAVE FIRST COLOURED POLICEMAN.’

Per YouTube: “As the first post-war black officer to join the Met, Norwell would face many challenges throughout his esteemed career, and was subjected to racism and prejudice both in and outside of work.”

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London’s first black police officer, PC Norwell Roberts, on point duty near Charing Cross Station, 1968. pic.twitter.com/QjFtIAtWiG

— History In Pictures (@HistoryInPics) January 11, 2017

In 1996, Roberts was awarded the Queen’s Police Medal for his service and the honor came a year before his retirement.

Tony Carne, founder of Revelation Films, said: “The company was formed on the back of a now iconic film produced with the Terrence Higgins Trust [Higgins was one of the first people in the U.K. to die of an AIDS-related illness], 30 years on it seems appropriate to be developing another film about a British icon. It is one of the most inspiring stories we’ve had the honour to develop. Norwell has spent his entire life being ahead of the curve and his sheer perseverance has in no small part helped to see significant change in British society.”

“His focus and determination to simply be the best copper [policeman] he could be, in the most trying of circumstances, ploughed a furrow for the Met to become the much more racially diverse organisation it is today. In a time where we desperately need a new, more compassionate tone to converse, disagree and find common ground, Norwell exemplifies this spirit,” Carne added.

No release date has been announced yet for the film.

Will you be watching the cinematic tale about the UK’s first Black policeman?

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