Black History Month: Fed member says arrest as teen led to policing career dreams

1 October 2023

A Hertfordshire Police Federation member has described his own arrest aged 14 as “a seminal moment” in his life and the point he knew he wanted to help young people stay out of trouble.

Tristian Morrison said that while he sat in the back of the police van, near where he grew up in north London, he realised he wanted to become an officer.

He has since gone on to establish a career with Hertfordshire Police working with young people and recently received the Chief Constable’s Commendation after being nominated for a national bravery award.

Speaking with Hertfordshire Police Federation, Tristian has recalled the incident that played a pivotal part in his life when he was arrested for carrying a pointed or bladed object.

Tristian Morrison spoke of a 'seminal moment' that led to him joining the police.

He was in possession of a screwdriver he used to tighten and change the studs on his football boots after a match he had been due to play in had been cancelled and he was about to board a bus.

“While I was in the back of the van, I was speaking to an officer, and I just remember having this premonition,” said Tristian, who has shared his experience to mark Black History Month (October).

“I felt like I was having a conversation with my future self.

“I had this vision of me speaking to young people like me in that position, but as a police officer, and feeling I was having an important conversation with them.

“That was the seminal moment for me. I saw the future and knew I wanted to be a police officer and work with young people to help them stay on the right path.”

Now, 20 years on from that fateful day, Tristian is fulfilling his goal of being a police officer after initially joining the force in 2012 as a police community support officer (PCSO) based in Broxbourne.

“I was a school PCSO so I was doing one-to-one sessions with students, speaking to head teachers, delivering presentations, getting involved and getting these young people familiar with the police,” he added.

“Then I joined as an officer, and seeing some of these young people that are now men and women, they still remembered me. That’s one of the most amazing things I’ve taken from that role.

“The skills that I developed when I was a PCSO definitely helped me as an officer.”

Tristian said he ‘came across some amazing people’ while he was PCSO, who believed he could go on to be an officer.

“From day one, Inspector Gerry Harrison was telling me I could do it,” he continued, adding: “I had my mentor, Detective Inspector Dan Bhamra, who helped me and prepared me to join as an officer, and gave me the confidence I can do it, as well as amazing support from Hertfordshire Black and Asian Police Association.”

In 2021, Tristian decided to go for it and trained to become a police officer.

Tristian Morrison receiving the Chief Constable’s Commendation.

He said: “I was going through the interview process during the time of the George Floyd Black Lives Matter movement. And although I was fully aware of the movement years before, that horrible incident was a pivotal moment.

“It made me think about the path I was on, the reasons why I chose this path and what role I saw myself in.”

Now he’s part of the Child Criminal Exploitation Prevention and Diversion Team. The team works with young people who are involved or may be at risk of being involved in criminality, Tristian explained.

He said: “We try to put them in a better position to make better decisions and keep them out of trouble.

“We work with them, their parents, their carers, their school.

“If a young person gets arrested we go into custody and we have a conversation with them to see if they want our help. It’s all permission-based.

“I’ve been in the police long enough to have seen the change in attitude from the police in terms of young people and how gang or youth violence is viewed. It’s now being viewed as children being exploited, being groomed, and being vulnerable and not just labelling them as offenders.

“Our team targets the most vulnerable young people in our society and tries to protect them.

“We work with children and young people from different backgrounds and circumstances because anybody can be groomed and anybody can be vulnerable in a certain situation.

“Understanding why a young person may be targeted or lured into a world of crime is important, as is challenging lazy stigmas like race being a factor in offending."

Tristian said he’s extremely passionate about the team’s work.

“It’s exactly where I saw myself 20 years ago,” he said. When I speak to young people, I’m speaking to them as an officer but also as that 14-year-old.

“I absolutely feel like we’re making a difference. It’s all about choices. I’m not there to be their dad or enforce myself as a role model.

“I say to them that the situation you find yourself in might not be great but it doesn’t define you. You have a choice.

“You have options. You might have to work for it but in the long term it will benefit you.”

Earlier this month Tristian received a Chief Constable’s Commendation after risking his life to tackle a knife-wielding thug.

Tristian, who was a student officer at the time, and his colleague Mercedes Newman were nominated for a National Police Bravery Award for disarming and arresting the offender in Goff’s Oak last year.

He said: “It was an absolute honour to receive the Chief Constable’s Commendation.

“My wife and our two boys were there, cheering me on. It was a proud moment.

“It was amazing just to be there for the awards ceremony and to visit Downing Street. Seeing and hearing the other amazing stories, as well as meeting the other amazing officers all over the country, was inspiring and humbling.

“Mercedes was the truly brave one. She was amazing. A great officer to learn from. I was a student officer and I was just backing her up.”