The Police Subculture - Women and Minorities in Policing

The entry of women into policing appears to have come about due to a shortage of men to staff open positions. The first women, with the title of matron, were hired by the New York Police Department (NYPD) in 1888 to assist with the Great Blizzard.  But, not until 1975 was the first “female patrol officer” hired. 

Research on women in policing has addressed assessing their

• effectiveness,
• attainment of rank,
• foray into specialized areas,
• impact of stress,
• policing styles,
• management of intense situations,
• and those areas where they surpass their male counterparts.

Outside of the United States, progress of women into policing came on the heels of reconstruction such as what occurred during the reconstruction periods of the two World Wars as well as times of nation building such as the post colonial period in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and the developing democracies of Eastern Europe and South America. Women began entering uniformed policing in significant numbers in the early 1980s. Traditionally, the policing occupation has been mainly the province of white males. Not until the late 1960s and early 1970s did minorities began to enter policing in substantial numbers. Grudging acceptance of women came about only after considerable harassment and denigration. As a platoon commander, this writer was not one who welcomed women into policing ranks. However, women demonstrated that they possessed many of the qualities sought by platoon commanders. They were punctual, neatly dressed, well-spoken, and probably two of the most important qualities; great report writers and they tended to generate far fewer citizen complaints than their male counterparts. Many women rose through the ranks to command positions, and research demonstrates they were and are well-suited and held in high regard by nearly all departmental members.

The experience of black officers was first chronicled in the groundbreaking book, Black in Blue (1969), which spoke of how black police officers were accepted under the work situation but excluded from the off-duty social scene of white police officers. Also, barriers had been erected to keep blacks out of the detective and upper ranks of policing.

This was true for all minorities but in particular female minorities. Minority males had a much greater level of acceptance by white officers. Minority females, on the other hand, were not only looked down upon by white males but also male police officers of their own minority group. It was believed that female officers could not meet what many viewed as the demanding physicality of policing. Females proved them wrong. Research conducted on the performance of females as police officers has been positive across the board. Females were found to have had the same performance rates of their male counterparts and established better rapport with citizens. Finally, they also generated much less in the area of citizen complaints, which did not go unnoticed by police supervisors and administrators.

Gays and Lesbians in Policing

The late 1960s and early 1970s also witnessed the open entry of members of the gay and lesbian community into policing. Just as females were viewed as unsuitable to manage the demands of policing, so were gay and lesbian officers. Beyond sexism, many police officers of all stripes were challenged by their own homophobia, and gay and lesbian officers had their own special rite of passage into policing to experience. However, time did for them the same as for female police officers. Gay and lesbian officers demonstrated to the straight officers that they could do the job. This won over, in some circles, grudging acceptance to their presence in policing.

This writer witnessed first-hand the reaction to two gay police officers assigned to the French Quarter in the late 1960s and early 1970s. One officer was open concerning his sexual preference, but the other was not. For all of the officers working in that district, about 70, the openly gay officer was accepted because everyone believed he could be trusted to back other officers be it coming to their aid or "on paper." The other officer who was not open was not accepted because it was believed that he could not be trusted. Straight officers did not care about the sexual preference of the officers, but rather whether or not they could be trusted. In that sense, many urban police departments were operating on a "don't-ask-don't tell" basis decades before the US military.