A Metropolitan Police officer who has spent 50 years serving communities across south east London has revealed she once spent an entire shift sitting in a police car because a male colleague refused to patrol with her.
PC Karen Giles, who joined the Met in 1976 at the age of 19, was among the first generation of women to join frontline policing after the Sex Discrimination Act came into force the previous year.
Speaking to the News Shopper as she marked half a century of service, Karen recalled one incident early in her career that has stayed with her.
READ MORE: Meet Lewisham's longest-serving Met Police officer after 50 years on the frontline
She said: "I remember sitting in the yard for eight hours in the area car because the driver wouldn't take me out.
"It was a shock for them, I think, to have all these women arriving because there had been a separate women's police.
"I think they were just a bit injured - they didn't really know what to do."
Karen, originally from Cumbria before moving to Cornwall, joined the Met after a female police officer visited her school to give a careers talk.
She completed her training during the sweltering summer of 1976 before being posted to Plumstead Police Station - despite having no idea where it was.
"I'd never been to London," she said, "I remember another officer and I getting the bus together trying to work out where we were going because we just didn't know."
Although there were around 25 women in her training class of 60 recruits, female officers remained a rarity once they reached police stations.
"When I went to Plumstead, there might have been one other woman there, but I hardly ever saw her because of the shifts," she said.
Karen said women were routinely given different duties to their male counterparts.
She explained: "If a young male officer came onto the team, there were certain jobs you were more likely to get if you were female - traffic point, working in communications - and you were less likely to get response work."
Looking back, however, she says those attitudes reflected society at the time. "We reflect society. That was what society was about," she said.
"I think up until the early 70s, women couldn't even take out a loan without their husband's signature. Things were very, very different."
Despite those early experiences, Karen never considered leaving policing.
Over five decades she has served almost exclusively across south east London, working in Plumstead, Woolwich, Peckham, East Dulwich and Lewisham.
She said: "Every decade I've met great people - inside the police, police staff and members of the community.
"The police service is so undersold. The things officers do every day to help people are unbelievable."
One of the moments that has stayed with her the most was having to tell an elderly man that his wife had died.
"I'll never forget him," she said. "I don't know how I stopped myself from crying."
After delivering the devastating news, a nurse quietly took Karen into another room, handed her a cup of tea and an aspirin, and sat with her until she felt able to continue.
"It's those little acts of kindness that stay with you," she said.
Karen was surprised with a celebration at New Scotland Yard this week to mark her 50 years of service.
Reflecting on the milestone, she said: "It doesn't feel incredible to me because it's normal. I've just carried on doing the job."
A colleague and friend of Karen, Sheila Fellows-Turnbull, worked for the Metropolitan Police for 30 years and remains close friends with Karen to this day.
Looking back on their careers, Sheila said attitudes towards women in policing had changed dramatically since they first joined the Met.
She told the News Shopper: "You'll always work with somebody who's not very nice," she said. "But most people wanted the job done properly. They'd teach you, pass on their skills and look after you."
Nearly five decades after meeting on a freezing driving course in 1979, Sheila and Karen remain close, keeping in touch through WhatsApp and handwritten letters.
Sheila added: "You could never lose contact with Karen. She's one of those people who keeps in touch with everybody.
"She's amazing. She's done so much, but she's very understated about it. She doesn't boast – she just gets on and does something about it."
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