Rationale for Instrumentation

Female police officers have been saddled with a stigma ever since they were allowed to join the force with male officers. Female police officers performance and ability to do their job and perform well is often questioned because they are women. Female officers are not given the same respect as male officers because of their gender; however, they bring different skills and assets to the profession that male officers do not. Female officers are less likely to use force or become aggressive because they have better communication skills and empathize. However, female officers will resort to using aggressive behaviors or force when necessary. Superior officers and male patrol officers feel that women are only on the force because it is a matter of social integration and an HR requirement. They feel that this is a man’s profession, and women have no business trying to be a part of it.

There are many stereotypes that women in the law enforcement field have to face. In order to recruit more women into policing, law enforcement agencies should attempt to overcome the idea that policing is a "male-oriented profession". This paper will cover parts of the history of women police officers, some views and stereotypes of the female officer, job related issues, life outside of the workforce and job satisfaction.

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

. . the dominant position of men and the subordinate position of women” (Rabe-Hemp 94). As policewomen tend toward their stereotypes, they strengthen the patriarchal organization of the police subculture: the practice of females assuming “roles that male officers have historically not defined as ‘real police work’ . . . devalue[es] the tasks female officers engage in” (Rabe-Hemp 97). Conversely, “women who dare to challenge these roles are isolated [and] harassed” (Rabe-Hemp 94). Therefore, the police subculture strengthens the differences between male and female police officers that society has pre-established through gendered stereotypes. These findings can be viewed from an individualist perspective as opposed to an organizational perspective because the police officers were exposed to these stereotypes as they grew up, long before they began training. Although the police subculture does make it more difficult to break out of these sex-based stereotypes, these stereotypes do not originate from the subculture itself; as a result, the organization has less of an influence on worker performance than the individual’s

One would think that in today’s day time that women should be treated the say way as her male counterpart when it comes to applying for a position as an officer or any other position within law enforcement organization, but they are not. Even though it has been over 100 years, women in the work place and equality can be a very long battle and can be depressing or degrading when a woman is doing the same job but is being paid and respected a lot less. Thereby, we will examine the hiring practices and their evolution over the last 100 years, and the issue of

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

Qualitative research methods are used to examine the perceptions of women police regarding their career opportunities and trajectories, and their experiences with regard to the culture, practices, and policies of policing. Purposive sampling was used to identify and recruit a representative number of policewomen as study participants. Subjects completed surveys and participated in in-depth interviews. Data was analyzed through the use of constant comparative procedures, with member checks and interrater reliability scores obtained to ensure trustworthiness of the data.

This research project is an analysis of six scenarios. The scenarios are as follows: History and rolls of law enforcement in society, Levels of jurisdiction, Distinction among the multiple functions of Law enforcement agencies, Analysis of Historical events that have shaped modern policing practices, Ethical and professional behavior in the workplace, and Evaluation of how knowledge, skills, and attitude learned in this course apply to your chosen career. There will also be a summary of reactions on Ethical and professional behavior in the work place. Included in the second section, there will be six scenarios. The responses will incorporate knowledge of

Being a female in law enforcement can be challenging at times but however the reward will outweigh the risk. What exactly does happen when females join in “the biggest boys club in America”? Sandra K. Wells and Betty L. Alt are the authors of Police Women Life With A Badge where they discuss the struggles of female police officers seeking to reach top ranking positions; their efforts can be identified as failure, success, politics, and fair play. This book not only presents the struggles of the current problems as a female police officer but past problems as well. Wells and Alt provide a brief history of females in law enforcement through the eyes of female officers. This book outlines where women started in the criminal justice system to where

This division in society even went further to discriminate depending on an individual’s social status, duration in the U.S., sexual orientation, and racial backgrounds. Women who were hired as police officers were appointed duties that did not require them to work street patrol. New York City employed its first police matron in 1845 and in 1888 together with Massachusetts voted for a statute that required “communities with a population of over 20,000 to hire police matrons to care for female prisoners (Shusta, Levine, Wong, Olson, and Harris, 2010, p. 51; Felperin, 2004). This created a path for more women officers to be hired. In 1905, the Portland, Oregon Police Department appointed its first woman [Lola Baldwin] sworn as a police officer but not allowed to patrol. The International Association of Chiefs of Police passed a resolution in 1922 supporting the use of police women [but did not work as patrol or detectives]. The Indianapolis Police Department assigned the first two female officers on patrol in 1968 and in 1985, Portland, Oregon appointed the first woman [Penny Harrington] Chief of Police. Laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act contributed to the hiring of women in the law enforcement field (Shusta et al., 2010, p. 51; Felperin, 2004).

This study sought to answer three research questions. Although the questions have been presented in previous chapters, they are worth presenting again.

The law enforcement industry has become a less desirable job for Americans nowadays. The current shortage of police officer’s applications across the country are attributed to the diminishing pay, bad reputation, and dangerous nature of the job (Ali, 2017). Police departments around the country face severe scrutiny after heavy attention was drawn to police brutality incidents. The general belief that the law enforcement industry in America has a

Burnout and low retention rates are well-known problems in the police force (Burke & Deszca, 1986). There are consistent patterns in the research that have led us to hypothesize those female police officers with higher levels of burnout could be more likely to resign (Akinlolu, Dotun, & Nneka, 2013). The most effective way to decrease burnout is by addressing long-term stressors reported by female officers. Among many other stressors already mentioned, the police force has been slow and tentative in their progress toward fuller utilization of female police officers (Garrison & Grant, 1990), which is stressful for female officers. The future of women, although hopeful, is full of potential barriers, which could either help or lock female officers

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

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,