From a very young age, Kevin Maxwell was very clear that he was going to be a Police Officer when he grew up. As a young, mixed race boy who was living in Toxteth during the infamous riots of the early 80s you would think this would be the last thing he would want to be but despite other high profile incidents like the Hillsborough disaster and the Stephen Lawrence enquiry nothing could change his mind and in the months after the September 11th attacks in 2001 he started his Police training and eventually joined Greater Manchester Police, spending many years there before moving on to the Counter Terrorism Unit of the Metropolitan Police in London. Despite being a hard working and extremely dedicated Officer his career was filled with setbacks and abuse because he dared to be a gay, Black Police Officer. In “Forced Out” he tells the full story of exactly what went on during his time in the Police. I saw “Forced Out” over on Instagram after my friend, Siobhain, had reviewed it and it sounded so interesting I had to read it so she very kindly lent it to me. I honestly don’t know where to begin with my thoughts on this. Maxwell’s writing is very detailed and methodical, as you would no doubt expect from a former Police Officer, but he also beautifully conveys the emotions he feels when dealing with the abuse he suffered during his career with the Police. The book is split into 3 parts; the first dealing with Maxwell’s upbringing in Liverpool and then his time with the Police up until his breakdown; the second part deals with his diagnosis of depression and his fight against the Force; and the third deals with what happened after his eventual resignation from the Police and their reaction to his accusations. The first thing that really struck me is how much Maxwell wanted to be a Police Officer. This was his absolute dream job and all he had wanted to be since he was a kid. This isn’t a person with an axe to grind. Right from the start of his career he put up with racist and homophobic abuse but he kept trying to just push it down as complaining got you nowhere. Nobody should go to work and be subjected to abuse. The fact that Maxwell only joined the Police in 2001 was shocking. I can only imagine how much worse things were in years gone by. Throughout the book there is never any question that Maxwell was extremely good at his job, which makes his story all the more devastating. The Police have lost an incredibly dedicated and talented Officer who should have been an asset because instead of clamping down on abuse and stamping it out when it occurred the hierarchy chose the wrong side, closed ranks around the perpetrators and engaged in behaviours designed to humiliate or gaslight the victims and eventually get them out of the Force. Maxwell isn’t the only Officer that this has happened to, “Forced Out” contains details of others and, as always, these are only the ones that are known. A lot has been said, particularly recently, about the state of policing in the US but here in the UK there is an overwhelming consensus that it’s purely a US problem and that our Country and our Police are absolutely fine. This is an extremely naive view to take. I know that not all Police are bad; I personally know people who do currently or have in the past worked in the Police and yes they are great people, I would have absolute faith in them but that doesn’t mean that everyone who joins the Police is like them and just because my friends aren’t racist or homophobic doesn’t mean that no Police Officers are. I don’t believe in making sweeping generalisations either way; not all Police are good people and not all are bad. Maxwell’s book has again highlighted that the culture of policing and the n