Kimberley, a serving police officer, and Jennifer, a member of the public, sit opposite each other in a dimly-lit interview room. They begin a conversation.
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Jenifer: Has anything ever made you feel scared on the job?
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Kimberley: We have these red buttons on our radios,
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if somebody presses that red button, your heart stops 
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because you’re just like ‘where is that officer?
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Where are my keys? I’m going
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Jenifer: Do you think the police are sexist?
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Kimberley: No. In a word.
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I can only talk about my experience in our force.
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But I think every sort of issue that might be in policing
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in relation to sexism or racism or against disabilities
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or any of those kinds of issues,
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there’s something in place to try and tackle that.
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So, I just know with policing now that there’s a zero tolerance to it.
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If someone was then to report it to a manager, it’s then dealt with.
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Things are in place to not allow that to continue
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and that is the difference.
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Jenifer: Has anything ever made you feel scared on the job?
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Kimberley: Oh yeah for sure like absolutely.
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You’re only human at the end of the day.
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But of course, when you’re driving to something
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the adrenaline is going,
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you’re like ‘what am I going to be facing?
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What gets you through that is knowing that
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you’ve got a team behind you so you’re never on your own.
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It’s almost like a family, as cliché as it sounds, it really is. If something…
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I’ve heard things over the radio.
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We have these red buttons on our radios, they're like an alarm which 
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if somebody presses that red button, your heart stops 
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because you’re just like ‘where is that officer? 
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Where are my keys? I’m going’
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It’s just your mentality because you just look out for each other.
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The fear is there but you’ve got people to back you up.
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Jenifer: That’s amazing.
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Did you always want to be a detective?
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Kimberley: Yes, I think I always did.
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I kind of knew that was where I wanted my career to go.
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Getting an investigation, getting a case
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and really picking it apart, who’s done what
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and who’s involved and why?
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Not knowing really what you could be going into.
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You could come into work one day and think:
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‘right this is what I’m doing today, this is my To-Do list’.
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Then something happens and you’re going
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 it doesn’t matter what you’ve planned 
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and you have to switch into that mode 
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and deal with that and you know, there’s not many jobs really where it is like that

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and that’s what keeps it fresh, even for like 15 years in the job.
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Jenifer: Do you think there’s anything that 
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 gives you an edge over your male counterparts?
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Kimberley: From a personal point of view, I think
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being a female from a black minority ethnic background
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and having kids, I think that makes me quite unique.
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I’m quite proud of the opportunities I have to do things
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that can potentially open doors for other people
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to see that actually you being somebody unique
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can have a really big voice in somewhere like policing.
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If you are new coming in and you want to see
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those women in those managerial positions,
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you want to see them high-ranking and think:
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‘Actually I could get there’, it isn’t just all men at the top.
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Jenifer: Do you find it difficult juggling being a mother

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and being in the police as well?
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Kimberley: Yeah. Yeah definitely. My husband’s in the police as well
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and we’ve got three children. So, for quite a few years
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we have had to be on opposite shifts
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and literally passing ships at the night at times.
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But the police is good for,
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there are opportunities to do flexible working.
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They do recognise that obviously most people are 
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going to have children or other caring responsibilities
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so there are things in place to make it easier, but it is hard.
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Jenfier: Do you ever feel like you’re a detective mum?
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So finding out whose done what?
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Kimberley: Yes, without a doubt.
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I do find myself questioning my children
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in an interview technique style at times. 
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I can actually see like an interview process
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going around in my head and I’m like these are my kids.
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But to be honest it works! 
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So I’m going to probably carry on with that.
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Jenifer: It is great training!
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Kimberley: Good training yeah!
We see a close-up of the whirring tape deck recording the conversation. It clicks as the recording ends.