Abbey Marks Centenary of Police Women
Friday, 17th May 2019
A service of thanksgiving to mark the centenary of police women in the Metropolitan Police Service was held at Westminster Abbey on Friday 17th May 2019.
The service was conducted by the Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, who said in his Bidding:
It is a particular pleasure on behalf of the Dean and Chapter today to welcome to Westminster Abbey representatives of women in policing as we celebrate the centenary of the first women to join the Police Service of the Metropolis. It is an added joy on this occasion that the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis is the first woman to serve in that distinguished role.
We honour today the important role of all female police officers alongside their male counterparts, noting that the initiative a hundred years ago was considered to be experimental, and therefore highly tentative, but quickly became normative.
We shall hear testimonies and we shall pray for the important work of the police service in this city and more widely. And later in the service we look forward to hearing the address of the first woman serving as the 133rd Bishop of London.
Testimonies were read by Lucy D’Orsi, Deputy Assistant Commissioner; and Inspector Leanne Alleyne.
Patricia Gallan QPM, Assistant Commissioner, read Corinthians 12: 12-20; and Detective Inspector Beverley Kofi, Homicide and Major Crime, read St John 15: 9-17.
The Address was given by the Right Reverend and Right Honourable Dame Sarah Mullally DBE, Bishop of London.
