Leroy Logan: ‘The Lord commissioned me to join the police’

Despite his father being severely beaten by police officers in a racist attack, Leroy Logan persevered with his application to join the Met. His career has seen him valiantly fighting for change – even at significant personal cost. Now a new challenge awaits 

When Leroy Logan applied to join the Metropolitan police force in 1983, it was two years after the Scarman report – the first inquiry into relationships between the police and the Black British community. Commissioned after the Brixton disturbances, it heavily criticised the disproportionate use of police powers as part of Operation Swamp, which saw almost 1,000 Black people stopped and searched in just five days, before tensions boiled over in the predominantly African-Caribbean community.