Engendering Police Identity

2). Within the past three decades, there has some “discussion about the pros and cons of adding women in large numbers to the rank and file of to the USA police system” (Mastrofski, 2007, p. 4). According to Zhao (et al, 2006), we have a rising number of female officers on the force compared to past decades, which suggest a growing consensus that adding women to law enforcement is a good idea.

When it comes to race within law enforcement, male police officers still question whether women can handle the dangerous situations and physical confrontations that officers may be confronted with, while it is shown that most police women have easily met the expectations of their superiors. Indeed, studies have found that, in general, male and female officers perform in similar ways. In addition, research has found that most citizens have positive things to say about the work of police women (Worden,

In the Training Day film, directed by Antoine Fuqua (2005), it depicted many cop code regarding police subculture. Subculture is "a subdivision of a national culture or an enclave within it with a distinct integrated network of behavior, beliefs, and attitudes" (Collins English Dictionary, n.d., as cited by Jones, 2005, p. 60). Although subculture has its positive impacts, the negative ideas about police subculture are more likely to garner attention. Alonzo and Jake portrayed many cop codes that include, “don't make waves,” “don’t leave work for the next tour,” “don't give up another cop,” and “protect you ass” (Pollock, 2015). These ideas contradict the code of ethics, values of the police organization, and society as whole

The article Attracting females and racial/ethnic minorities to law enforcement is about local law enforcement agencies and their efforts to engage women and ethnic/minorities into participating in law enforcement agencies applicant processes and also concerns the hiring patterns of law enforcement agencies and the abilities of these agencies to fill sworn positions with females and minority officers. The arrival of the 20th century brought with it a change in the policing environment from the spoils system of earlier days to a more inclusive environment for female and minority presence within officer ranks. Some of the problems that law enforcement agencies of the more recent times will have with attracting females and minorities into law enforcement agency careers comes from outside of the agencies, but the most important determining problems can come from within those agencies themselves such as fear of the race and gender discrimination from the likes of employers and co-workers that makes females and minorities reluctant to join law enforcement agencies. The more highly televised incidents of the police brutality such as the Rodney King beating, Abner Louima torturing, and other abuse of force incidents make it very important

During the 1960’s and the 1990’s race minorities and woman began to be implemented into the police force which caused tension in minorities and women due to the racism from peers and the public. Women were and still are often seen as the weaker gender which caused forms of harassment towards them. Women were often not allowed to take on certain tasks due to their inability to perform in terms of strength and often sexually harassed as well. In terms of color and race, men and woman working in law enforcement were allowed to work in the system because they believed it would allow minorities to trust police men/woman because of their race or ability to speak their language. However, this affected these particular policemen and women to be under

Referring to my reading on the article compromise police legitimacy as a predictor of violent crime in structurally disadvantage communities by Robert J. Kane. I found procedural justice an idea, which is largely consisting of the equality methods of the law-making process, that relate to the concept of legal-rational authority. This model it also shows the concerns and the issues of the legal authority in the consensus-based process, in how the law enforcement interacts with the public by applying the right and fair choices of process. Police legitimacy is another term in this article, which refers to the police authority where law enforcement has the right to use of power when is needed. Corresponding to their procedures of controlling the situation rightfully and creating a peaceful trust

Kappeler, Sluder, & Alpert (1998) explain that through the police subculture deviance enters into law enforcement. The police character that is developed can be attributed to several paradigms such as psychological, sociological, and anthropological. The individual personalities of an officer and the authoritarian personality, characterized by cynicism, aggression, and conservatism, is that the psychological paradigm analyzes (p. 85). The socialization process which officers experience when they go through the academy, training, and field experience, contrast that dispositional model of the police personality, and this is the focus of the sociological paradigm. When officers internalize these norms and values that are learned, this professionalization occurs. The occupational culture of policing and the -beliefs, attitudes, and values that make up the subculture is seen as the anthropological paradigm or the culturalization perspective (Kappeler, Sluder, & Alpert, 1998, p. 87-88).

For female officers, the mentality to prove themselves to their male counterpart is a major stressor. It has been debated for some time women’s ability to handle the pressure of police work. Women are more prone to higher level of harassment, overt hostility and other negative social interaction from their co-workers and the public (He et al, 2005). This is the reason why is it extremely important for police administration to promote resilience and diversity within the

        I agree with your descriptions that you have given for your positive and negative aspects of police subculture. As I was reading them I notice there could be other meanings to those aspects as well. So I am just giving my opinion on your aspects that you have listed. When you speak about territorial, that could also mean that an officer is more protective of his area that he is assigned too. He/she is more likely to want to do as much as possible for his community, and protective of it too. I really did not think that danger was an positive aspect, but as I thought about the definition, I guess it could. I guess maybe danger would make all police officers a little more closer to one another because of the danger they all can relate

The biggest concern is that the community wont take policewomen as seriously as policemen and “the current idea of masculinity in police work will be jeopardized. Over the years, police work has encompassed a masculine status, and women generally face difficulty gaining respect and credibility”(Kakar, 2002). “Women implement “soft policing” which emphasizes problem solving over the crime-fighting attitudes favored by male officers”(McCarthy, 2013). “Women made fewer arrests and gave fewer traffic violations (“Police Women on Patrol”). However, differences in arrests did not affect women’s performance ratings. The same level of respect and favorable attitudes were seen from citizens involved in police incidents with patrol officers of both sexes (“Police Women on Patrol”) “Women do indeed implement a different style of policing than the direct crime-fighting style seen by men, but it does not sacrifice respect or degrade the values of policing”(Innes,

Gender inequality still plays a huge role in today’s society. Women comprise only a small percentage of the local law enforcement agencies across the nation. Women have been a part of law enforcement since the 20th century but have only been noticed within the last 40 years. Back in the 1970’s women rarely held positions in law enforcement and if they did it was mainly clerical/desk positions. Even though the amount of women in law enforcement today has increased, women still only make up roughly around 13 percent of the law enforcement work force (Public). Women can make such an impact in the Law Enforcement field if given a fair chance but they may face many problems when doing so. Some say that women don’t belong, while others suggest

The role of police departments in the US kept on changing, depending on the prevailing circumstances and conditions. In the post-Civil War era, for instance, the attention was shifted to breaking strikes. More than ever before, the 19th century saw an increase in industrial actions against employers. In particular, labor unrest was very common. In New York, for instance, there were recorded 5090 strikes, most of which involved up to a million workers (Paoline, Gau, & Terrill, 2016). What caught the eye is the fact that most of these strikes were actions that were called against individual companies. Such businesses that were targeted often found it difficult to prevent the rioters from destroying property.

Law enforcement has become a predominantly male-dominated field over the past several decades. With gender roles and cultural influence in play, women have been left behind when it comes to more difficult or dangerous fields of work and study. As time has gone on, the number of women in the law enforcement has slowly increased, but that being said the numbers have not changed much. Only 14% of people employed in any branch of law enforcement are women. This is a problem that must be solved.

In recent years, recruitment and retention of police officers has been a pain point for many departments across the nation. Odd and inflexible hours, uncompetitive pay, para-militaristic organizational structures, and a negative public perception have all worked to diminish the pool of applicants interested in careers in law enforcement. Add to the mix the sexist “brotherhood” police culture, emphasis on masculinity and aggression, and the nearly non-existent opportunities for advancement for women, and over half of the eligible workforce has been discouraged from even considering a career in law enforcement. In 2013, women comprised just over 57% of the labor force, but accounted for only 13% of sworn police officers (USDOL, 2013; Crooke, 2013). Not only are women sorely underrepresented in the field of law enforcement, but those who are employed experience discrimination at the hands of their supervisors and coworkers, and as a result, the attrition rate for women is often much higher than that of their male counterparts. Departments should pledge dedication to recruiting and retaining more female officers, as research indicates that not only do females perform just as well as males in patrol positions, but they also have a unique set of advantages to offer agencies when employed in law enforcement. In order to improve the recruitment and retention of females into policing roles, departments must determine the biggest deterrents for women who are considering the pursuit

“But policewoman’s presence was still not wholly welcome, they were there because chiefs succumbed to pressure from outside reform groups, not because male administrators or officers saw any need for them. Policewomen’s allies remained other male and female social workers, progressives, clubwomen, and other reformers.” (Miller, 1999)