The History of Women in Law Enforcement
The History of Women in Law EnforcementTHESIS: Since first being implemented, policewomen have proven themselves to be
extremely effective and essential elements of law enforcement, facing many inequalities
along the way. While recent advances in equality have been made, law enforcement is
still seen as a male-dominated field. If we are to see further progress in the equivalence
of the field, it is important to continue to work for gender equality within our nation’s
policing institutions.
I. Fore-runners of woman police movement
A. Movement began after civil war with female philanthropic groups, both in
the United States and in Great Britain
1. Chicago Women’s Club
2. Female Protective League
B. The original premise of the female presence in police work was to protect
female inmates from abuse by male members of the field
C. An additional aspect of this was preventing the moral corrosion of women
and children
D. First policewomen
1. Lola Baldwin
a. Organizes group in 1905 in Portland, Oregon which dealth
with social conditions threatening young girls and women
b. Agents of this organization are known as “operatives” as
they resist the idea of being called “officers”
2. Alice Stebbins Wells
a. First offically commissioned policewoman in the United
States in Los Angeles in 1910
b. Theology student and social worker
c. Patrolled dance halls, skating rinks, arcades, theatres, etc.
E. Annual Conference of Charities and Corrections
1. 1915 Baltimore, MD
2. Creation of first association for female police work
II. Presence of policewomen around world
A. Great Britain
1. 1907- first “police aide” appointed to take statements and
interrogate female rape victims for London Criminal Intelligence
Agency
2. During WWI
a. Women fill in for men who are fighting
b. Execute erveillance, have no arrest powers
3. 1918- Metro Police of London’s Division of Women Police Patrols
a. wayward girls
b. sex ofenders
c. prostitution
d. white slave traffic
e. female prisoners
f. juvenile cases
4. Duties during WWII
a. law enforcment
b. escorting enemy aliens
c. detention centers on Isle of Man, 1946
d. special missions in British-occupied Germany to establish
German policewomen sections
5. Full integration with close of Metropolitan Women’s force in 1963
A. West Germany
1. World’s first city to employ officially titled policewoman
a. Stuttgart, Germany, 1903
2. Employed since then, but...
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