Women in the Law Enforcement Profession

"Throughout their histories, police departments have remained remarkably stable, white, male institutions.... The entrance of women in large numbers changed the mix but police departments still tend to be ruled by white men" (Bouza 34)

This paper will analyze the status of women as police officers in the law enforcement profession by exploring the obstacles that prevent more women from entering the police profession, and by discussing why women are important to the changing role of police work. The more women are represented in law enforcement, the more benefits the law enforcement profession itself, as well as society as whole, will have. The police profession is in the process of changing its role in society from an authoritarian and force oriented profession to a more community and service oriented profession. The recruitment and retaining of more women into the law enforcement profession will enable this change to happen to a greater degree and at a faster pace, thereby, increasing the police officer's ability to meet society's needs. This, in turn, will increase society's trust in and value of the police officer and the police profession.

To begin with, in order to understand the current status of women in the law enforcement profession, it is vital to discuss the history of women in the profession. The modern police model has been in existence in the United States since the mid 1800's and at first, it consisted entirely of men (Senna 154). Women weren't part of this police system until 1910 when the first woman Alice Stebbins, joined the Los Angeles Police Department (Senna 219). However, the positions offered to women at this time where not the same kinds of positions offered to men. Women were relegated to secretarial-type jobs, to juvenile divisions, or to prisons as guards (Fish 2). In 1911, for instance, Washington State hired its first woman as a matron for the Spokane Jail (Fish 11).

Until the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, the jobs available to women in the police profession remained limited (Senna 219-220). From the time that women were first hired into the profession in 1910, until the 1960s and 1970s, when it became illegal to discriminate based on sex, law enforcement agencies only hired men as police officers. This was a result of many factors, including the abundance and availability of veterans in the labor market, and the law enforcement profession's and society's view that only men could be police officers (Harrington 63).

It wasn't until 1968 when the Indianapolis Police Department made history by assigning the first two female officers to patrol, that women were hired on an equal basis with men (Harrington 21). It has been nearly 40 years since then and women have entered law enforcement professions in growing numbers. Yet, the total number of women in the profession has remained small and growth has remained slow. "The most recent research shows that only 14.3% of sworn personnel are female, with an annual increase of only 0.5% over the last several years" (Harrington 21).

Clearly, barriers continue to exist for women in entering the field of law enforcement. Today women are still restricted by organizational and social obstacles that continue to be difficult to overcome (Senna 219). One obstacle for women is the biased feelings from men within the police profession who have a hard time accepting women working along side them. This can be observed in the high incidence of sexual/gender harassment and in the low promotion/high attrition rate of qualified female officers (Harrington 133, 125). Studies have found that "anywhere from 60-70% of women officers experienced sexual/gender harassment...but only about 4-6% ever reported the harassment" (Harrington 133). The lack of reporting can be attributed to the code of silence in law enforcement agencies and to the severe retaliation that occurs when women do report it (Harrington 133). Not only does this discriminatory behavior result in low retention rates for women officers, but it also accounts for the lack of women promoted to higher positions within an agency (Harrington 133).

Sexual/gender harassment and the severe, debilitating stress resulting from it are two of the top reasons women most often give for leaving their law enforcement careers (Harrington 133). The high incidence of sexual and gender harassment proves, even today, how uncomfortable men, who dominate the profession, are with women entering the profession. The solution, however, is not to keep women out of law enforcement, but to bring them in at even higher rates in order to balance the scales and also to give women more of a support system so that they remain in the profession.

Another obstacle for women entering law enforcement is the selection practices of law enforcement agencies. The selection processes currently in place have a tendency to favor men because they award bonus points for experience in the military and also place greater emphasis on an applicant's physical strength (Harrington 63). Since the military has a relatively low percentage of women compared to men, and since biologically men are stronger, especially in their upper body, the small percentage of women in the police profession can partly be attributed to the biased recruiting practices that place a high value on these factors. These practices continually disqualify many otherwise eligible women and qualify many otherwise ineligible men. Therefore, women will not achieve equality, or even opportunities in police agencies, until these recruiting and discriminatory practices are changed or completely eliminated.

In the scope of what makes a good officer, man or woman, research has shown that the current standards and practices regarding recruitment of police officers, i.e. physical strength, "proves to bear less relationship to performance as a police officer than do verbal and mediation skills" (Spiller). It is ironic that the physical ability entrance requirements eliminated most of the women candidates even when it was proven that these requirements have little relevance to predicting job performance (Senna 220).

Law enforcement agencies must overcome the common perception that policing is a "male-oriented profession" limited to duties that require only physical strength. (Harrington 43). Research, conducted both in the United States and also internationally, has shown that women officers' style of policing is to use less physical force, and also, is better at "defusing and de-escalating potentially violent confrontations with citizens" (Lonsway 2). In addition, women officers are generally better communicators than their male colleagues and are more able to "facilitate the cooperation and trust required to implement a community policing model" (Lonsway 2). All in all, women are better choices for a profession that is attempting to alter its purpose and goals from a forceful and public control style to a public service community oriented model. As one researcher, Joseph Balkin,noted, "Policemen see police work as involving control through authority, while policewomen see it as a public service." He concluded, "In some respects at least, women are better suited for police work than men" (Spiller).

Women are pivotal to the future of the police profession. As police leaders become more interested in implementing community or service oriented policing, and as they are attempting to transform (for the better) the relationship between law enforcement and the public they serve, more policewomen are necessary. In addition, communities are demanding a change toward a more communicative and cooperative police force that works with citizens to solve communities' problems and concerns and women have proven to be more than capable in accomplishing this goal.

In the Feminist Majority Foundation's National Center for Women & Policing brochure, Recruiting & Retaining Women: A Self-Assessment Guidefor Law Enforcement,Chief Penny E. Harrington, Director and Principal Author, states that there are six advantages for hiring and retaining more women in law enforcement professions. These advantages include: female officers are proven to be as competent as their male counterparts; female officers are less likely to use excessive force; female officers can help implement community-oriented policing; more female officers will improve law enforcement's response to violence against women; increasing the presence of female officers reduces problems of sex discrimination and harassment within an agency; the presence of women can bring about beneficial changes in policy for all officers.

In our modern emphasis on 'community oriented policing', individuals in the community are "customers" and the police profession serves them. Policing will continue to require more communication skills and negotiating ability and less physical or brute strength to force or control the community. Police officers are now peace officers and once the discriminatory and illegal barriers the keep many qualified women out of the profession are eliminated and more women become and remain police officers, then the new community oriented policing role of law enforcement will be realized.

In summary, the attributes that women bring to the law enforcement professions can only promote better agencies; agencies capable of addressing the needs of the community more thoroughly and seamlessly. Hiring more women will work to the advantage of those within the police profession as well as the communities they serve.

Work Cited

Bouza, Anthony V. (1990). The Police Mystique: an insider's look at cops, crime, and the

criminal justice system New York, N.Y.: Plenum Press.

Fish, Harriet U. (1989). Law Enforcement in Washington State : The First 100 years, 1889-1989. Olympia, Wash.: Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs.

Geller, William A., Ed. (1991). Local Government Police Management (3rd ed). Municipal Management Series. Washington, DC: Published for the ICMA Training Institute by the International City Management Association.

Harrington, Chief Penny E., (2003). Recruiting & Retaining Women: A Self-Assessment GuideFor Law Enforcement. Los Angeles, Ca: National Center for Women & Policing, a Division of the Feminist Majority Foundation.

[http://www.womenandpolicing.org/publications.asp]

Lonsway, Dr. Kim, (2003). Hiring & Retaining More Women: The Advantages to LawEnforcement Agencies. Los Angeles, Ca: National Center for Women & Policing, a Division of the Feminist Majority Foundation.

[http://www.womenandpolicing.org/publications.asp]

Senna, Joseph P., and Larry G. Siegel. (1999). Introduction to Criminal Justice (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: West/Wadsworth.

Spillar, Katherine. (2000, February 18). This Is What You Get When Men Rule Roost. Los Angeles Times, Op-Ed. [http://www.womenandpolicing.org/oped.asp]