'People doubt me as a Met Police officer because of my height and some criminals go easier on me'

A Metropolitan Police officer has told how the public doubt her because of her size, but se is determined for people to recognise that how she appears doesn’t dictate how well she can do her job. PC Courtney Thompson, 25, has been responding to emergencies in Hounslow, Ealing and Hillingdon since joining as a PC two years ago

She added: “But how I appear as a female shouldn’t dictate how well I can do my job. The public have given more controversial opinions on me being a female than my colleagues in the Met.

‘We’ve moved past the point where people believe that a woman’s role in the police is just to babysit the children’

“We’ve moved past the point where people believe that a woman’s role in the police is just to babysit the children that come into police protection, but I think there’s still that traditional mindset of who they’d like to see in policing. It’s not all members of the public, it’s a small minority, but we have to try to change their views.”

Courtney also recalled the moment one man almost attacked her, but decided against it because she was a woman. She said: “I was very close to a physical altercation with someone, and he said ‘I’m sorry I was going to go for you but then I realised you were a girl’.

“So it did make me question well if I was a male officer you would have attacked me but because you noticed I’m a female, now it feels morally wrong. So in some respects being a female has either helped me not get attacked on duty, but on the other side of it, it’s almost like a disappointment to some people sometimes.”

She added: “But I wouldn’t put myself at risk or my colleagues at risk, if I didn’t feel confident enough as an officer, if I didn’t know the right thing to do.”

Courtney became a PC after originally joining the force as a Special Constable, which is a volunteer role. She said: “It was a real eye opener. People think policing, how exciting catching the bad guys, they think about the blue lights and the fast pace, and the adrenaline rush.

“But in reality it’s quite a lot of time spent in hospitals dealing with mental health patients or people that have suffered injuries. It’s quite a lot of death. It’s not as exciting as people think it is, it’s quiet traumatic and gruesome.

“When people are at their most vulnerable, they will inevitably call us, so we are there, we do show up and engage. That is what motivates people to carry on each day.”

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