Maha Sukkar bringing diversity to the police force

Maha Sukkar is the first Australian police officer to wear the hijab. A Sergeant and teacher at the Victorian Police Academy, Maha works between communities and uses the golden thread of multiculturalism to inspire her students. I’m meeting her at the Academy - the stunning former Corpus Christi College - high up on the hill in Mount Waverley. I’m excited to meet a woman fuelled by a commitment to social justice and community connection. I just have to remember not to call her a pioneer!

Interview by Maria O’Dwyer Photography Mia Mala McDonald

Maria O’Dwyer: You moved to Australia from Lebanon in 2000, where you were a graphic designer. What made you want to become a police officer?

 Maha Sukkar: I was always in the services over there; I was a volunteer [in the] ambulance service; I was a scout or a girl guide all my life. So it's a big part of my thinking. When I came here I volunteered with the SES; I was a volunteer with the CFA before, so it's part of who I am, from day dot. What changed from graphic design to policing … I think it's the fact that September 11 happened. Things changed. People changed. People who used to see me before changed their approach to me when they saw me after 9/11. And I thought, it's time to do something about it. I tried the normal ways – going through Islamic communities or, you know, social communities, to see if we can make change. At the time there was a lot of Islamophobic attacks and things like that, but it was affecting the community. And then I saw the ad that Victoria Police wanted more people, more women in the police force, more women from multicultural backgrounds. [I thought] why not? I 'll give it a go! I was brought up to give anything a go.

You’re known for being the first Australian woman police officer to wear the hijab but I've read that you don't want to be labelled as a pioneer. Why is that?

Being ‘the first’ or being ‘the pioneer’ …it comes with a lot of responsibility. It comes with a lot of scrutiny as well. Before all that I was a very low-key person. No one would believe it now because I'm all over the place. But I wanted to keep it for the actual cause not because of me. I'm happy to be called the first, but there's more people behind me and there's more people who joined after me. Maybe I'm opening doors and I'm letting them through. But they need to be recognized as well.

 It does come with a lot of responsibility [though] ‘cos if you make a mistake people say, 'She is the one who …’ you know?  For example, a police officer on the street - if they don't treat you well [a complainant would] say, ‘I think they were blonde, blue eyed, they had a name tag that says J. Smith.’ Not very easy to identify! But if you say, ‘it was the Muslim woman with the headscarf’ ...who else is it going to be?  Yeah it's a lot of responsibility because I shouldn't be making any mistakes but at the end of the day, you're human.

What are some of the challenges you face working as a Muslim woman in the police force?

 There's different kind of challenges. There's challenges within Victoria Police [and] there's challenges within the community itself. Some people in the community don’t have a lot of time or respect for police regardless of who we are as individuals.. I stand out from many other police officers and people respond to me differently but I knew that would be the case from day one; I knew it's going to be a ride like that.

 The other challenge within Victoria Police has been implementing change. Being the first to wear the hijab, I received a lot of different reactions and questions from my peers.. So changing, being a change agent is a big deal. And changing something that has been done one way for years and years and years … that was a big challenge.

 In the community most of the Muslim and the multicultural communities are scared of police because of the experience they had in their countries. Whatever country that is, they come here they think the police here are the same as the police over there. Sometimes people say, 'hang on, you're a traitor now you're working with the government,’ and I’m working on changing all that.

When you were inducted into the women's honour roll you became subject to trolls and online abuse. How did that make you feel, particularly after such a long career in working in cross cultural communication?

 I'm still copping it. It's part of the job. And while seeing the trolls or seeing the negative abuse is hard, seeing people react to it differently now makes me feel good. At the time Victoria Police put a photo of me on the Victoria Police Facebook page congratulating me and the other people who were inducted. But there were a lot of trolls, a lot of negative things, comments –  we counted 4500 comments within an hour. While there are people moderating these comments, it’s difficult to keep up with this volume of comments. There are those who support you in the community and those who don’t. We also had a Victoria Police Muslim Association ’Walk for Christchurch’ which we put on the Victoria Police Facebook page and the trolls happened again.

How important is it to have a police force that represents the diversity of the community?

 It’s very, very important because we work with the community in many ways – including with people who break the law and victims of crime I've noticed that when I’m responding to a multicultural victim or perpetrator they will talk to me straight away because they know I understand where they're coming from. Regardless of culture, we have something in common because we have different backgrounds.  But you don't have to be a migrant to work with migrants. You have to understand them. And working with people who understand and ask them questions is the way to go.

I’m curious about your experience in being a first responder – I’m always in awe of people in these jobs, it's so dangerous and you're putting yourself in danger for people you don't know.

 You need to have the right attitude for it. I do it for the social justice, I do it to help the community – any community – not just the Muslim community. And I've got more respect for the SES volunteers and CFA volunteers because they do it all for free.

 It's the adrenaline as well sometimes. Look, I haven't been on the road for six months and I miss it. I miss getting a hot job and rushing there and thinking quickly, ‘if we can do that, we're going to do this…’ – it becomes muscle memory. And it’s an awesome feeling when you help someone and, two days later, three days or three weeks later they send you an e-mail saying thank you. The highlight for me was six or seven years ago I went to a family violence presentation to a group of Afghani woman who had just arrived in the country. I said, ‘if you need anything give me a call’. Last year I was presenting at Leadership Victoria and one of the girls [in the audience] stood up and said, ‘I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for you. Five or six years ago you did that presentation and I called you; you gave me the right advice and I did what you told me to do. And I would have been killed by my husband if I didn't do what you told me’. That hit me like a ton of bricks. You can see it sometimes – it takes seven years to see it but you can see an outcome. And that's what makes us all keep doing what we're doing.

A big part of your success seems to be your ability to cut through bureaucracy and make things happen. Do you think that has something to do with being an outsider?

 The bosses in here know that I get a lot of requests because of the honour roll and sometimes they jokingly say, “Can't you just be a sergeant?” But deep down they recognise that my life experiences are extremely valuable to connecting and engaging with the community.

 You’re a teacher at the academy. What’s the one thing you would like to leave with your students?

 I always use the golden thread of multiculturalism. When I'm teaching them about search powers, for example, I bring up the example of, ‘can you search someone who's wearing a turban? Or a hijab?’ They don't know. If you’re going to be working in the community you need to know these things and that’s why we give our recruits this information. If you're looking for a missing person who is from a multicultural background and also has dementia, there’s a chance they might revert to speaking their language of origin. So you have to think about proactive policing.

 The most important thing is that our new recruits see me visually. The way I look, the hijab in uniform. That's one thing we've changed. Now people can see that anyone can become a sergeant, they can be police officers. That's enough.

What's next on the horizon for you?

 Well the sky's the limit, I reckon! I always have a five-year goal. Ten years ago I said to myself, ‘I want to end up here at the Police Academy teaching new recruits’. And it took me 10 years but I did it. And I went sideways and backwards to get here. [Now] I've got a five-year plan. Hopefully, I want to end up in

family violence command or family violence [role] where I can proactively work with the community to educate the educators and educate the police as well. That's step two. Chief Commissioner next, why not?!  I consider myself a practicing Muslim. If you have a clear intention and you're doing it for the right reason. Keep going. If you have the passion for it, you will get it done. That's my fuel.

 But let's see what happens. Sometimes you want to take a break and say. Take it easy, don't do anything. One of my bosses once said, ‘can’t you keep your head down for about six months?’ I said, ‘I can’t! Look at my head. It sticks out by itself.’ You have to joke about it.

You are very visible.

 And vocal, I get very loud!