Women in Law Enforcement - Essay Example

Women in law enforcement Social scientists can learn much from the study of images. In the early 1990s, for instance, it was possible to collect a striking series of pictures of women from western mass media. Overall, women have made great pace in non-traditional careers since the 1960's. A combination of societal changes and legal mandates has helped pave the way for women to enter law enforcement in record numbers. Since 1970's there has been a remarkable change in number of women pursuing their career in criminal justice system. This figure has been very encouraging for women who are seeking careers in law enforcement. According to (Jon Felperin, 2005) in 1845, the first women to be hired by the New York City Police Department were called "matrons." In 1985, Penny Harrington of the Portland Oregon Police Department became the first female Chief of Police, Today, once the last bastion of male domination in the workplace, police organizational attitudes are finally beginning to change. And yet serious problems still remain. In 2004, women accounted for only 12.7 percent of all sworn law enforcement positions in large agencies and the numbers are declining. The percentage of sworn female officers in smaller agencies is even lower in spite of women comprising at 46.5 percent of the entire labor force. Decline of women career in Law enforcement: There could be many possible reasons for the decline in the number of women pursuing careers in law enforcement. Although research shows that women can be just as effective as men, uneven hiring practices, selection processes and recruitment policies keep the number of women artificially low. Often women are screened out of the selection process early on; as a result of certain entry level tests that favor upper body strength or previous life experience, such as military service. Most women never even consider a career in law enforcement to begin with, due to their misunderstanding of the nature of the job, and the aggressive and authoritarian images portrayed in the media. Once hired, however, women still face discrimination, sexual harassment, or even peer intimidation, and they often lack the necessary role models or mentors to help them move up the ranks. Many never even take promotional exams, giving first priority to family or personal relationships. All of this thwarts any efforts to recruit and retain more women, and is, in part, why numbers remain stagnant or continue to decline. And yet, recent changes in policing philosophy, emphasizing problem solving and community over intervention, have brought to light glaring inefficiencies and injustices. Widespread excessive force and corruption scandals, overwhelmingly attributed to male officers, are costing cities millions of dollars a year in lawsuit payouts. Because female officers utilize a different policing style and rely less on physical force and more on communications skills, potentially violent confrontations and are less likely to occur, or escalate into excessive force situations. Thus citizen complaints, or civil liabilities, are substantially less likely to occur. The implications of not having a representative number of female officers are clear. The under-representation of women at all levels in the modern police agency negatively impacts the culture and operational efficiency of law enforcement agencies throughout the country. Given the many difficult challenges facing modern agencies, the need to hire more women has never been more urgent. Women in law enforcement: Law enforcement has thus traditionally been regarded as a "man's job," and, while women have now been on patrol for three decades, many policemen still hold highly negative views of policewomen such as that they are physically incapable, insufficiently aggressive, too emotional, mentally weak, naive, and incapable of gaining the respect of citizens. Research has shown, however, that this is not the case: policewomen are as capable as their male counterparts, and, in many instances, better suited for police work It has been argued that women bring an ethic of care to law enforcement (Gilligan, 1993). This ethic is seen to translate into policewomen possessing greater communication skills and calming demeanors, being more empathetic, and better equipped to interact with citizens. (Grennan, 1987; Ho, 1993; Winston, 1996) "Policing today requires considerable intelligence, communication, compassion, and diplomacy. Women tend to rely more on intellectual than physical prowess. From that standpoint, policing is a natural match for them." - Elizabeth Watson, Houston Police Chief As will be seen, women have in many instances across the country had to rely on affirmative action programs to gain employment in police departments. Further, the effect of affirmative action has been positive, increasing the numbers of female police officers significantly. Discrimination and sexual harassment: Despite these positive legal changes, many women who wanted a career in law enforcement were forced to bring charges of gender discrimination against police departments across the country. Several court decisions were handed down during the 1970s and 1980s, which significantly altered the role of women in law enforcement. These were related to five areas of law enforcement: (1) sex-segregated jobs; (2) minimum height and weight requirements; (3) strength or physical fitness tests and requirements; (4) oral interviews and written examinations; and (5) blatant gender discrimination (Hale & Menniti, 1993; Palombo, 1992). They are issues of stereotypes, physical barriers, issues of sexual harassment and discrimination. The problem with many women turning away from careers in law enforcement is the stereotype that it is a male-oriented field and many women also feel like it is a hostile work environment, said Trooper Beverly Haile of the Virginia State Police. There is also the notion that physical strength and policing is a major characteristic of the job. Studies show that female officers are just as efficient as male officers, Haile said. Women did experience difficulty while working with the male dominant departments however by increasing the presence of female officers, incidents of sexual harassment and stereotyping would be greatly reduced. Harassment is not only about sexual tensions for the women working in low enforcement but about the abuse of power and anti-competitive behavior. It could be any thing from torture to verbal discrimination and harassing. This all happens to women not only in law enforcement but in all forces. That's because they are considered as less competent as compared to men. Increasing presence of female can eliminate this. Blasting through glass ceiling: Is there a brass ceiling for women in law enforcement Of course there is. The data from the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Center for Women & Policing, and the personal stories of women who broke through the barriers to achieve command positions shows the fact. IACP's ad hoc committee on women in policing reports that of 800 agencies surveyed by telephone, there are few women in policing, compared to their male counterparts - and that women officers still face bias from male officers. According to the IACP, most departments lack strategies for recruiting women, and once they get there, women officers face gender discrimination and sexual harassment. The glass ceiling starts to form itself very early on. From the moment a woman enters the work force after college, she is faced with much discrimination and unjust belief that she will not be able to do as well of a job than a man. A man and a woman, who both have the same education and training for a job, will have a considerable gap in their yearly income. In a first year job, a man will make approximately $14,619 compared to a woman who will make only $12,201. That is a pay gap of 17%. There is no reason why there should be any gap in their incomes during the first year of their jobs. They have both had the same formal education and both have the same qualifications necessary for the job, yet they are being treated unequally. There have been changes in regards to women in top positions within the last few years. However, although those advances are positive, they are still nowhere equal. A certain statistic may say that there has been a 14% increase in the number of women in executive jobs for a certain company. However, although that increase is no doubt positive, it fails to tell the true story. Men need to change their attitudes and actions towards women in the workplace. They need to abandon believing that they are superior to women. Most men truly believe that a woman is simply not capable of doing as well of a job, or better, than a man can do. Therefore, they become extremely unsupportive of women and fail to recognize their accomplishments. Brother hood: When anyone challenges the police, the police defend their right to enforce control and authority. Officers must trust each other to provide assistance and back-up in their struggle to maintain control. They develop strong bonds of loyalty that ensure they will be there for each other. The Brotherhood must be reliable in life and death situations. Cops - stick together. Law enforcement has always been male dominated professions. Women were first hired as non-sworn officers in the late 1800's as social workers to deal with problems concerning women and children. They had no police powers and could not wear the police uniform. Only a small percentage of women in either profession have risen to command level. The face of law enforcement has changed dramatically and no longer be called" brotherhood" because of diversity and development of "clicks" However this brotherhood of police officers does exist in the sense that men typically stick together. Female officers must walk in a very thin line between remaining feminine, whiling proving that they are as good as men. If she is too girly then the majority does not accept her but if she acts too much like of the guys she wont be accepted either. They still face discrimination so the challenge for women to stay and keep on progressing in law enforcement is a tough one for them to prove and will remain tough. Support programs: Women in Federal Law Enforcement (WIFLE) is an organization incorporated in June, 1999 with a goal to achieve gender equity within federal law enforcement through the recruitment, retention and promotion of qualified women in law enforcement, and develop an information-sharing and support network for all women in law enforcement. In 1998, the Interagency Committee on Women in Federal Law Enforcement (ICWIFLE) conducted a survey of federal agencies and from the respondents that reported on 1997 statistics, women comprise an average 14% of the sworn officer/agent population nationwide. While this is an improvement, there remains much more to be done to achieve gender balance within the federal agencies. It is in the spirit of achieving our goals that WIFLE offers a scholarship. The purpose of Federal Law Enforcement is to offer a scholarship(s) to talented individual(s) to meet the demands in the field of law enforcement and to foster the professional development of those engaged in law enforcement. The dollar amount of each scholarship will be approximately $2,000, but may vary based on numerous factors. Awards may be renewable on subsequent applications. This and other support program keeps on coming up to support the idea of women in law enforcement and to encourage women to enter the field. Reference Felperin Jon (2005) "Women in Law Enforcement: Two steps forward, three steps back" retrieved December 18 2006 from http://www.policeone.com/writers/columnists/JonFelperin/articles/87017/ Gilligan, C. (1993). In a different voice: Psychological theory and women's development (rev. ed.). Retrieved December 17 2006 from Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Hale, D. C. & Menniti, D. J. (1993). Discrimination and harassment: Litigation by women in policing. In R. Muraskin & T. Alleman (Eds.), It's a crime: Women and justice (pp. 177-189). Retrieved December 18 2006 from Englewood Cliffs NJ: Regents/Prentice Hall. Palombo, B. J. (1992a). Affirmative action and the law. In G. T. Felkenes & P. C. Unsinger (Eds.), Diversity, affirmative action and law enforcement (pp. 38-56). Retrieved December 18 2006 from Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas. Winston, K. I. (1996). Teaching with cases. Paper presented at The Conference of Criminal retrieved December 19 2006 from Justice Education: John Jay College. Read More