Police Magazine
MENU
SEARCHMENUSEARCHLoading data...
The first female police officer in the country with arrest powers, Alice Stebbins Wells, arrived in 1910 with the Los Angeles Police Department. By 1937, the department employed 39 policewomen. Women are serving in most areas of the department; they have yet to crack the elite SWAT unit, but a 2008 report led to 12 women being accepted into the training program that feeds the unit. These photos, which show several of the pioneering police women of the department, have been provided by the Los Angeles Police Historical Society.
Read More →
Wells was one of the first female officers in the country with arrest powers. Her first duties included the "suppression of unwholesome billboard displays, searches for missing persons, and the maintenance of a general information bureau for women seeking advice on matters within the scope of police departments."
Read More →This special section of POLICE is dedicated to all the women who are serving in law enforcement right now.
Read More →Her favorite assignment has been as Menifee’s first female motor officer because she says it’s a great opportunity to represent the city while showing little girls they can do anything if they work hard enough.
Read More →The resentment from fellow officers manifested in more than just comments or quiet contempt. Veteran officers refused to offer her help and advice. They were also slow to respond to her requests for assistance, she says.
Read More →The dawn of the contemporary female officer came in 1972. It was a moment in time where law enforcement's and the public's attitude toward women with badges began to change and female officers began to be perceived as "real police."
Read More →She wanted to be a cop because she wanted to help victims, especially children. “I came from a dysfunctional childhood and wanted to help other kiddos from broken homes,” she explains.
Read More →If policing was an Olympic sport, there is no doubt that Team USA would be standing atop the Medal stand, taking honors for gold, silver, and bronze—and America's female forces would be right there among the victors on the world stage.
Read More →For decades female police officers received little respect from male cops. They were treated as "secretaries with badges." Today, only a knuckle-dragging caveman would believe that women don't have the courage and determination to be cops.
Read More →Sgt. Marie Owens, who worked 32 years with the department, told the Tribune in 1906 she liked police work because it allowed her to "help women and children who need help."
Read More →