A man who joined the Met to challenge misconceptions within the police and ethnic minorities has urged people to apply.

Acting police sergeant Imran Al-Hadad, whose beat covers Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge, joined the Met as a special constable 10 years ago.

The 38-year-old said: "I have always viewed the police as people who want to help others, which is extremely important to me.

"Growing up in London, I noticed not everyone shared my views and this motivated me further to become a police officer and help to alleviate misconceptions within some sectors of London communities and within the police.

"I knew if I became a police officer I could help restore the relationship between the police and communities where confidence in policing had fallen.

"I feel so very passionate about my work and have a personal mission to continually project a fair, positive and professional image of the work that we do."

The father of two urged others to join, saying a career in the Met is like no other with "endless" opportunities to develop skills and experiences.

"No two days are the same and you do feel like you are part of a family. There is great satisfaction in knowing you are making a real difference to the lives of people of all backgrounds.

"Working in such a diverse city, you are learning about different people and cultures all the time. I get an immense sense of reward going to work every day, knowing the work I am doing contributes to making London safer and gives people the justice they deserve," he said.

Today, half of all black, Asian and ethnic minority officers in England and Wales – more than 5,000 - work in the Met, according to the service which aims to recruit 40 per cent of all officers from ethnic minority communities from 2022.

As well as building confidence in diverse communities, the service is aiming to improve retention and progression among black and Asian officers.

Sgt Al-Hadad currently works in the investigations support team, managing a team of officers.

He is responsible for developing the team and making sure they are capable and skilled investigators.

"Work on my unit is challenging. We carry a heavy caseload of investigations and it is vital we prioritise the high risk cases at the earliest opportunity to ensure the continued safety of the victim. Assessing risk is high on my list of priorities," he explained.

In his role, Sgt Al-Hadad shares knowledge of how to investigate crimes with new recruits and helps them prepare for the next stage of training in their probation period.

A memorable case from his own days as an emergency response officer saw the father of two buy baby formula for a shoplifter detained by supermarket staff.

"He wasn’t known to police and was not a regular shoplifter. When I looked at what he had taken I found it was baby milk and baby food.

"I spoke to him and found he had been made redundant and was struggling to feed his baby," Sgt Al-Hadad said.

The caring cop, who is based at Fresh Wharf in Barking, gave the man details about charities which could help and warned him about the trouble he could get into if he stole again.

"Seeing his desperation, I was so moved that I paid for the baby formula myself and gifted it to him," Imran said.

Romford Recorder: An off duty Sgt Al-Hadad relaxes with family during a visit to the zoo before lockdown.An off duty Sgt Al-Hadad relaxes with family during a visit to the zoo before lockdown. (Image: Imran Al-Hadad)

When not in uniform, Sgt Al-Hadad likes to spend time with his wife and children as well as adding to his collection of retro gaming consoles.

The keen gamer lists Counter Strike, Call of Duty Modern Warfare, Super Mario and Street Fighter 2 Turbo among his favourites.

On what he enjoys most about the job, he said: "Being a mentor to a new officer is one of the most rewarding aspects of my work.

"I know from personal experience that the senior officers who helped and mentored me on my journey gave me invaluable experience and I will always have a great deal of respect for those officers.

"When I am mentoring an officer, I feel like I am always learning and keeping up to date as well as, hopefully, making a difference to someone else’s development."

For more about recruitment as a detective visit met.police.uk/news/met/met-launches-new-detective-recruitment-campaign/