Issues for Women in Law Enforcement

Issues for Women in Law EnforcementWomen were non considered for fullness enforcement duty unless(prenominal) it was in a typical crinkle in the profession such as, excess units, desk and office jobs and received baseborner pay. date women were often thought of as being weaker in this profession, they fought to be recognized by constantly laborious to assure themselves to be offend in a masculine dominate argonna. Women postulate had their struggles as incumbents in the constabulary system, they draw do advances that wouldnt fox been heard of in the early 1900sOver only, women devour made great strides in non-traditional careers since the 1950s. With compounds in society, cultures and legal mandates acquit cleared the commission for women to become members of righteousness enforcement as thoroughly as other male dominated jobs in America and other areas in the world. Compared to the last ten years, law enforcement has changed to brook the demands of a conti nuing diverse society. We leave better trained, educated, and a much(prenominal) than diverse law enforcement to help better deal with the issues in our communities. Women were not readily welcomed to this male dominated arena.The role woman played to hit this happen has been challenging. Historically, women have al government agencys been part of the general drillforce in American society, although commonly in jobs that fulfilled traditional womanish employment roles, such as such as nurses, secretaries, schoolteachers, waitresses and escape valve attendants. Shusta,et al. (2005).In 1845, the archetypal women to be hired by the New York City law of nature part were called matrons. In 1888 mammy and New York passed legislation dominate communities with a macrocosm over 20,000 to hire practice of law matrons to care for female prisoners. The early narrative of women law of nature consisted largely of social service, in which women had to meet mettlesomeer standards for police employment Women police officers were devoted duties that did not allow or require them to litigate street patrol. Assignments and roles were limited to positions such as juvenile iniquity and truancy pr regular(a)tion, child abuse, crimes against women, and custodial functions.Probably one of the nearly negatively charged acts to police officers was their denial to exercise basic patrol duties. unrivaled of the principal(prenominal) reasons for this was male officers alike tend to be protective toward women. Being socially conditioned to protect women, they would insist that female officers remain in the police car during traffic stops or arrest. When women were finally given the right, as a Federal law mandating equal opportunity regardless of informal practice or race, to perform general police meet and serve on patrol, they demonstrate their fitness for police work.In some(prenominal) smaller segments, women passive hold less than ten percent of law en forcement positions. The National promenade for Women and Policing reports that nearly 90 percent of all law enforcement agencies require a tangible agility test for job applicants. Women grammatical construction challenges when hiring practices include natural benchmarks based on male aptitude tests which require much speeding body strength than women have, is a practice that has seen some changes in fresh years. The survey reveals that departments that do not use the test have 45 percent more women on the force than those with the agility exams. inquiry has shown that women have encountered difficulties due to negative attitudes of men about being police officers. some women indicated that when they were exposed to offensive behavior by male officers, they remained quiet for tending of negative male backlash. Sexual harassment is prevalent in most(prenominal) law enforcement agencies. Harassment on the basis of sex is a infringement of Section 703 of Civil RightsAct and is defined as unwelcome or unsolicited sexual advances, request for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature.Studies have open up that 60 to 70 percent of women officers experienced sexual/gender harassment. Even though harassment exists, only 4 to 6 percent of these women ever report the harassment. This lack of reporting can be directly attri preciselyed to the code of shut up in law enforcement agencies and severe retaliation that occurs when women report misconduct. Bureau of arbiter Assistance (2001). In a 1995 survey, of female officers in a spiritualist sized department, 68 percent responded yes to the question, Have you ever been sexually pestered while on duty by a member of your manner Shusta,et al. (2005). Most of the women revealed that sexual harassment occurs at all levels of an organization and is not limited to male harassment of women. Women, too, can be offenders when they initiate sexual jokes or innuendoes and use of provocativ e language with men. This kind of behavior usually results in men countering in a similar fashion, which can tally to and escalate the riddle even more. Shusta,et al. (2005).Becoming a police officer might lift about a more radical change to a womans life than male officers. Even today police work is a predominantly male occupation and in that respect persists the notion that assertiveness, aggressiveness, physical capability, and emotional toughness are male characteristics necessary to perform the job, however when female officers display these qualities they are often perceived as cold, emotionless, and uncaring. Lyman, M. D. (2005). correspond to male police officers, catching criminals is associated with bravery and danger, making it a mans job. It is believed by male officers that female officers cannot protect their male counterparts in confrontations where strength is required. Women who are accepted into the brotherhood of police or correctional officers have by and l arge had to become one of the guys Shusta,et al. (2005). It is believed that if a woman has a hard walk, tends to be too hard, or too unemotional she may become criticized by her co-workers and supervisors. If she is too feminine or not sufficiently aggressive, men go forth not take her seriously and she will not do well in either police or correctional work. When women are confronted with a dilemma they moldiness be aggressive enough to do the job just now feminine enough to be acceptable to male peers, and the must also be able to take different approaches to problems. Shusta,et al. (2005).In the corrections arena, male officers argued that women could not handle the violence and confrontations with inmates that occur in prisons. In a recent study it was found that women officers tended to respond to violent situations as aggressively as their male co-workers, and sometimes more aggressively. Women officers also seemed to have less trouble with the inmates than did their male c ounterparts although they were harassed when they first appeared on the job. go past and kail (2003). manful inmates in minimum custody had surprisingly low opinions of women performing as correction officers, however, maximum custody inmates had high opinions of their force and felt that such officers would be calm and cool inproblem situations. Female officers were thought to exert a softening influence on the environment making it more livable and less violent. Clear and Cole (2003).The status of women in correctional law enforcement with comparisons between the percentages of women sworn in as state, county and municipal officers indicate a huge difference. (http//www.womenandpolicing.org/PDF/2002_Status_Report.pdf 2010)Although in that location has been advantages and a broad leap for women in the law enforcement arena there has also been setbacks. Gender favoritism and double standards have always had women thinking that they had to perform and do better than male officer s. They are often placed in jobs that are traditionally held by women police officers, such as domestic help violence, child abuse, juveniles, and school programs. They are not usually considered for the more traditionally male jobs such as SWAT teams, gang units, narcotics, and homicide.Women usually face the difficult task of having the dual role of parent and career.Issues with child care, pregnancy leave, family responsibilities, flexible work schedules, job sharing, and mentoring and support groups. This can be e special(prenominal)ly hard for a single parent. If women had children when they entered law enforcement frequently find that they have a hard time balancing their commitments to family and work causing a significantly higher divorce rate than do male officers and have a lower group than the national female rate. Shusta,et al. (2005).More modernise police organizations try to show support by changing work schedules, being placed on light duty, Disability insurance an d nonrecreational leave benefits. The proportion of women among sworn police personnel has steadily gravid since the early 70s. In 1972 a survey of cities service of process populations of 250,000 or more revealed that women comprised of only 2 percent of uniformed law enforcement personnel. In 1978, women made up 4.2 percent of sworn personnel in municipal departments serving populations over 50,000. By the end of 1986, the proportion of women had risen to 8.8 percent of all sworn officers in these agencies and by 1991, 9 percent of police were women.While women may face many difficulties, sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and overall discrimination in the law enforcement field, the lack of women role models is a barrier for many women who are interested in policing as a career. It is essential that departments there are the few that is paving the way for women.In 2003, Annetta W. Nunn took the became Chief of natural law in Birmingham Alabama, she sat in a chair once in use(p) by Eugene Bull Connor, who was an segregationist and a national symbol of the Souths flight against integration who jailed thousands of civil rights demonstrators during the 1960s when Chief Nunn was four years old in 1963. Schmalleger (2005). During her tenure, Chief Nunn was a 23 year old hand of the department heading a force of 838 men and women.In February 2005, Massachusetts had a celebration to its common chord top women in law enforcement. capital of Massachusetts police commissioner Kathleen OToole leads the nations oldest department. Suffolk county sheriff Andrea Cabral is in charge of 2,500 inmates andMassachusetts corrections commissioner Kathleen Dennehy oversees 18 prisons crossways the state. Each is the first woman to hold her position. Thompson (2006).In 2006, Cathy Lanier was appointed as the first ever female chief of Police Washington, D.C., by mayor Adrian Fenty. She officially assumed the position on January 2, 2007. Chief Lanier has been with the Metropolitan Police Department beginning in 1990 with most of her career as a uniformed patrol officer, where she served as the Commander of the Fourth District, one of the largest and most diverse residential patrol districts in the city. She also served as the imperious Officer of the Departments Major Narcotics Branch and Vehicular Homicide Units. Chief Laniers base is a testimony to overcoming strife and the hardships that life can bring. At the age of 15, she was an anticipant mother, and dropped out of high school, but through determination and the willingness to succeed she go on to pursue her education, despite having family support, she achieved and reached her goal to achieve academic and professional goals in a short matter of time. Premdas, P. (n.d.).Joanne Takasato was Honolulu Hawaiis first undercover female narcotics police officer during the 1980s who broke barriers had some single handedly interpreted most of the Hawaiian island of Oahus drug dealers off the s treets of Hawaii. Her 394 page book tells the story about how she was forced to sever all ties with family, and friends to create a new-made identity and lifestyle that would get her accepted into the drug community but to also remain undetected as an undercover officer and had almost lost everything she had known to include her family as well as her sanity in the process.This is some of the examples of some of the police women who have paved the way and proved themselves as mentors for women who would want to pursue criminal justice as a profession. It is essential that departments that want to attract women candidates have women working in a variety of different positions to highlight the many opportunities that a department has to offer and the equity in the promotional process and assignment to special units. Female officers working as detectives, tactical team officers, street supervisors and high ranking administrators need to exist on a department to bear on some sort of w ritten policy on and procedure on recruitment.Law enforcement today is facing a crisis a loss of commonplace confidence and trust in the wake of police scandals that are odd in recent history. Highly publicized incidents of excessive force and police corruption have generated shocking headlines Los Angeles, New York, Texas, Louisiana, New Jersey, Washington, Seattle, and Chicago. Police heinousness and corruption lawsuits are costing taxpayers millions of dollars each year and the number and be are only increasing. With the payouts increasing, taxpayers will demand that officers and their organizations be held accountable for their actions. Lonsway et al. (2003)Research conducted both in the United States and internationally clearly demonstrates that women rely on a style of policing that uses less physical force are better at defusing and de escalating potentially violent confrontations with citizens and are less liable(predicate) to become involved in situations with use of excessive force. Lonsway et al. (2003) As an excess benefit, female officers often respond more effectively toincidents of violence against women, a crime that represents approximately half of all violent crimes calls to police. Lonsway et al. (2003)The National eye for Women Policing states that there are six advantages for law enforcement agencies that hire and retain more women1. Female officers are proven to be as competent as their male counterpartsIn one study, female police executives were found to be more flexible, emotionally independent, self-assertive, self confident, proactive, and creative than their male counterpart.2. Female officers were less probably to use excessive forceOne study found that male officers were the target of 50% more insults by citizens and almost three times as many threats or attempts at injury in comparison with their female peers.3. More female officers will improve law enforcements response to violence against women.A 1985 study found that female officers demonstrated more concern, patience and understanding than their male colleagues when responding to calls of domestic violence. Battered women who had abut with a female officer rated the police response as more helpful than those without such contact. They also rated the performance of female officers more favorably.4. increase the presence of female officers reduces problems of sex discrimination and harassment within a law enforcement agency.One of the most prominent impacts is in promotional opportunities. Male and female officers report the same desire for promotion, yet these opportunities are even seen as less available to women in comparison with their male counterparts. This is likely to be part of the explanation for the higher turnover rate that is systematically seen among female officers, at the academy and on the job.5. The presence of women can bring about beneficial changes in policy for all officers.The Police world noted in 1974 that the introduc tion of women will create in incentive to management practices which are less acceptable now that they must be applied to men and women alike. This may result in the development of improve selection criteria, performance standards, and supervision for all officers.6. Female officers implement community-oriented policingOne study found that instructors indicated that female officers have an advantage over their male peers in several areas, including empathy toward others and interacting in a way that is not knowing to prove something. Lonsway et al. (2003)In conclusion, throughout history women have made a way for themselves by showing that they can compete with men if they when given the opportunity. As police officers, they have come from being matrons and doing police work that was considered only for women, to being accepted as officers on the force, to becoming Chiefs of Police. Although there are not as many in the force as there should be, police women and chiefs are they a re constantly paving the way for the respect and acceptance that is rightfully deserved. Police women should not have to prove themselves to their male counterparts to become a member of a team. Many women have proven to their male counterparts that they can do police work just well as a male, if not better. Police women are required to close the gender gap and bring a different place to policing to make any police force not just unique, but equal.