Women in Policing - Research Paper Example

Their only source of help was from the temperance leaders, progressive era reformers, social workers, and social hygienist (Archbold &Schulz, 2012). With time, the number of women and their role in law enforcement increased. This was evident in the World War II. However, the gains were affected by the economic downturn experienced in the first half of the 20th century. However, there was more hope for women in the second half of the century (Archbold &Schulz, 2012). In the 1960s, women surfaced from their traditional roles to become patrol officers (Archbold &Schulz, 2012).

At this period, there was more concern about their safety and that of their colleagues. The focus now shifted on how women policing styles would be different from men and whether they might change the nature of the police organization (Archbold &Schulz, 2012). Currently, women have been assigned roles similar to male officers within police departments. Today, women comprise 11.9 percent of all sworn position in police agencies, in various parts of United States (Langton, 2010). The history of women in policing begins in the last half of 19th century.

In this period, women were hired to protect and administer to women and juveniles in prison. New York was the first city to hire two women in 1845. Women worked as matrons in the city’s two jails (National Center for Women and Policing, 2013). This was after a comprehensive campaign by the American Female Moral Reform Society for the creation of matron position. Their hope was that police would find it prudent to hire matrons for the police stations. However, this was not the case, and the idea received opposition from the police department.

One of the notable women in the era was Mary Owens. Owens received the rank of a police officer from the Chicago Police Department in 193 (National Center for Women and Policing, 2013). She gained this position due to the death of her husband who had been an officer for the