Cheryl Mullenbach - Women in Blue: 16 Brave Officers, Forensics Experts, Police Chiefs, and More

T hey were called sleuths in skirts, guardian mothers, copettes, and police in petticoats. It would be a long timewell over 150 yearsbefore women in law enforcement were known simply as police officers.

Balancing the stories of trailblazers from the past with those of todays dedicated officers, chiefs, FBI agents, and forensics experts, this collection of riveting biographies traces the evolution of women in policing. Women in Blue inspires readers to value those who broke through barriersoften enduring ridicule and discrimination as they fought for equalitywhile original interviews shed light on the daily challenges, rewards, and life on the job of various women currently in the trenches of law enforcement. The chronological progression puts hot-button issues like police brutality, race relations, and the treatment of suspects and prisoners into historic context and shows how many women in law enforcement are working to challenge and improve their field.

This rich, authoritative history is packed with colorful anecdotes, excerpts from primary sources, and sidebars on related topics and includes photos, a bibliography, source notes, and a list of organizations interested teens can explore to learn more about the world of law enforcement, making it an indispensable resource for aspiring sleuths, officers, agents, crime scene investigators, and more.

Other Books in the Women of Action Series

Code Name Pauline by Pearl Witherington Cornioley, edited by Kathryn J. Atwood

Double Victory by Cheryl Mullenbach

The Many Faces of Josephine Baker by Peggy Caravantes

Marooned in the Arctic by Peggy Caravantes

Reporting Under Fire by Kerrie L. Hollihan

She Takes a Stand by Michael Elsohn Ross

Women Aviators by Karen Bush Gibson

Women Heroes of the American Revolution by Susan Casey

Women Heroes of World War I by Kathryn J. Atwood

Women Heroes of World War II by Kathryn J. Atwood

Women in Space by Karen Bush Gibson

Women of Colonial America by Brandon Marie Miller

Women of Steel and Stone by Anna M. Lewis

Women of the Frontier by Brandon Marie Miller

A World of Her Own by Michael Elsohn Ross

Copyright 2016 by Cheryl Mullenbach

All rights reserved
First edition

Published by Chicago Review Press Incorporated

814 North Franklin Street

Chicago, Illinois 60610

ISBN 978-1-61373-422-3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Mullenbach, Cheryl, author.

Women in blue : 16 Brave Officers, Forensics Experts, Police Chiefs, and More / Cheryl Mullenbach.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-61373-422-3 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. PolicewomenUnited StatesCase studies. 2. Law enforcementUnited States I. Title.

HV8023.M856 2016

363.2092520973dc23

2015032406

Interior design: Sarah Olson

Printed in the United States of America

5 4 3 2 1

Always for Richard L. Wohlgamuth

THE WOMEN PROFILED in this book are brave law enforcement personnel and deal with difficult, dangerous, and at times violent situations. Some of these experiences are recounted in the text. Although I have attempted to include age-appropriate content and resources, I recommend adult guidance for younger readers.

THE MAYOR OF LORAIN, Ohio, made his opinion of policewomen perfectly clear in the Rock Island Argus newspaper in 1907: Huh! A good joke dressed in picture hats and peekaboo waists patrolling the streets in search of criminals!

Faced with such attitudes, women who wanted to work in law enforcement broke through numerous barriers. Some male chiefs refused to hire them; some male coworkers snubbed them. The public didnt always take them seriously. There seemed to be more interest in their clothing styles than any merit they offered in curbing crime.

They were called guardettes, copettes, and police in petticoats in the early 1900s. It would be a long time before women in law enforcement were known simply as law enforcement officials.

The evolution of titles and attitudes spans over 150 years. The first women involved in official police work were prison and jail matrons. New Yorks Auburn prison hired a matron in 1832, but it was slow going for the next century as police departments were reluctant to employ females in any capacity other than cleaners, laundresses, and cooks.

Male and female officers demonstrating handcuff techniques.

Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-116714

It took pressure from womens organizationsmost notably the Womans Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)to force police departments to employ women as protectors of women and children and as law enforcers. In the mid- to late 1800s cities across the country, including Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia, hired matrons.

By the early 1900s those matrons (and again womens organizations) began to pressure city leaders to be more equitable to women in law enforcement. They demanded better pay and expanded job duties. As they began to acquire those, their titles changed to policewoman and their roles revolved around being social workers and protectors of women and children. They were the citys mothers and guardians.

It wasnt until the early 1970s, when the womens movement impacted the workplaceincluding police workthat the title of police officer applied to all officers regardless of gender. The law guaranteed equality for women in law enforcement. Women should have been treated with equalitypatrolling the streets in a squad car, wearing sensible uniforms, carrying and using weapons, competing for advancement, heading departments. But equality was not automatic merely because of the law. In many cases, women had to sue to realize those rights.

In 1913 a newspaper reporter asked, If the hand of the law were to descend heavily on your shoulder, would it make any difference to you whether the hand was attached to a round, feminine arm or to an angular, hairy masculine limb?

If the question were posed today, would the answer be different than in 1913?