13 Hear the Cry for a Woman’s Help – Bailey Parkhurst
Bailey Parkhurst is a first-year student with sophomore status and is majoring in Criminal Justice in hopes of pursuing her dream of being an attorney. Bailey is from Brookville, Indiana. The following paper is a researched argumentative writing that was written for my Argumentative Writing 270 class this past fall. Bailey’s professor Kelly Blewett said, “I absolutely loved Bailey‘s commitment to her research project. Bailey did an excellent job of navigating primary and secondary research, as well as current events, to produce an engaging essay that is timely and well-argued.”
Hear the Cry for a Woman’s Help
A Researched Argument by a Criminal Justice Major on the Need for Female Officer
Gender bias is something the United States deals with every single day. It has to be dealt with in all professions. Females being in the police force is a very debatable topic that has shown itself over the years, since the creation of the first police force. Some citizens believe that policing is strictly a man’s job, hence the word policeman. Others believe that females need to be brought in to help handle emotional situations. Currently, the country is fighting with law enforcement agencies after the recent killings of African American citizens. Protests have occurred, riots have risen, and movements are close to having bills passed that could do a lot of damage to the police forces. One thing that should not be overlooked in this chaos is the underrepresentation of females. Overcoming the underrepresentation of females in policing will improve the image of policing, because females use less force, offer emotional support, and are more community-orientated.
Throughout this essay, sources enlighten the push to hire more female officers. An interview with a Criminal Justice associate professor was conducted to get an inside look into the police agencies, which is quoted throughout this essay. News articles, scholarly studies, and reference works were also consulted to outline the essay. I researched thoroughly the past, present, and future of female officers, to get an insight into my own thoughts on the topic of female officers.
Looking Back on the Beginning
The first police force was composed in London, England in the year 1829 (Siegel and Worrall 164) It was made up of total men who were there to keep order on the streets and protect people from the growing amount of crime. Almost ten years later, in the year 1838, the police force in the United States of America was created by August Volmer in Boston, Massachusetts ( Siegel and Worrall 165). Even then, females were not present, and the term “policeman” was used to describe the members of the force. However, back then, the crime, which would be considered “petty crime” today, was not very much. It mostly consisted of brawls, small thefts, and other small crimes, nothing like today’s crime.
When the year hit 1910, females started to join the police force. The first woman in the American police force was Alice Stebbins Wells (Siegel and Worrall 245). During that time, females were treated more like secretaries, and the females were not really allowed to fight crime like the men. For example, they were supposed to do paperwork, or go and watch the dance halls, but they were not allowed to arrest criminals, because it was a “man’s job.” If females arrested a criminal, they were ridiculed or punished. In an article written for The New York Times, Amy Stewart enlighted us on how new female officers were treated when they joined the force. “In 1966, the first females to graduate from Albuquerque’s police academy were put to work in the records department, freeing up men for crime-fighting” (Stewart 2). Back then, females were treated rudely, and they were discriminated against just for being a woman. Now, people are saying “if females wanted to do the job, they would.” However, from past experiences, females do not want to do the job because of the discrimination, and because the police force is seen as a force of men, with no room for females. Male officers feel that the job is too dangerous for female officers to be doing, and will sometimes be placed under the term “station queens” (Siegel and Worrall 247).
As I stated early, I conducted an interview to get better insight into my topic. I selected to interview Associate Professor Stephanie Whitehead. Professor Whitehead studied at Indiana University, where she earned her Ph.D. in Criminal Justice. She also has earned numerous grants, honors, and awards, while also writing peer-reviewed articles and two chapters for two different books. The reason I chose Stephanie is because of what she has focused her studies on. Stephanie has focused her expertise on policing. More specifically, policing and race, class, gender, and the emotional parts of Criminal Justice. Stephanie helped to remind me of my next topic.
On March 3, 1991, a situation occurred that really drove for a push to hire more female officers. An African American man named Rodney King was brutally beaten by four male police officers (Krbechk and Bates). After the incident, the officers were put on trial, but they were acquitted during the trial. Once the decision was made, many people broke out into riots. The riots lasted five days within the city of Los Angeles, with an enforced curfew during the time, and resulted in fifty deaths (Krbechk and Bates). After the riots, everyone was trying to fix the city. There was a push to rebuild the city and to reach out to the community in a way to fix the image of the police and the city. Since females were seen as more community-orientated officers, they were asked to join the police force (Siegel and Worrall 247). However, as Stephanie stated in her interview, the push for more female officers never came to fruition. This could be from female officers still believing policing was male-dominated, or because the police force was going through a backlash from the African American murders and riots.
What’s Going on Now
In this modern time, another situation like the Rodney King beating has presented itself. In May of 2020, George Floyd, an African American male was held captive to the ground, with a male officer’s knee pressed against his throat. After a long period of time, George suffocated to death. Around the same time, an African American female, Breonna Taylor, was gunned down in her home. In the midst of these situations, Black Lives Matter led protests in different cities, some even turned into violent riots about racial inequality. Now, we need more female officers to calm the chaos that has erupted in this country, as stated by law enforcement experts and leaders (Frantz and Tolan). We need to reach out to females, but why? Some people say that females can be just as racist as men. I personally believe that females are just more understanding, and they do not just see things as black and white. Female officers are being turned to because they are understanding and they know how to reach out to the community.
Female officers are less likely to use force in situations that could turn deadly. In an article called “Rarity of Tulsa Shooting: Female Officers Are Almost Never Involved,” Caitlin Dickerson interviewed a retired chief of the Tampa Police Department, who stated, “They don’t have the physical edge in encounters with citizens so, instead, they defuse the situation from the beginning, put more effort into trying to talk their way out of the situation than to try to resort to physical force” (Dickerson). Female officers have shown signs that they do not like to pull their guns. They talk more to defuse a situation, rather than just reaching to their hip to get the lethal weapon. Female officers need to be hired because they are more likely to result in a conversation than a trial for murder.
Another reason that female officers are being turned to is for certain cases that could have a bad outcome: domestic violence. In most domestic violence cases, officers are shut out because they are male, and victims don’t trust men who could have committed the same crime as their partner. Female officers are known to be able to talk to victims in a way that male officers cannot. During my interview, Stephanie stated, “We are taught in some ways to talk about our emotions and to talk about our feelings and emotional things, in a way that boys aren’t, so I think that gives us a leg up on being able to handle those situations because we can talk to the victim. We can empathize with the emotions and communicate better in those situations.” Stephanie pointed out a very general comment that boys grow up to believe that they cannot show emotion, however, females can. This is why female officers need to be added to the force because they bring a background of emotions and understanding to help the victims of domestic violence, which in turn can lead to better outcomes for the victim. However, most people believe that some females are too emotional to make tough decisions. In my own words, I say those female officers are capable enough to make tough decisions when needed, but sometimes, a little bit of talking with a woman can really help the victim.
Officers have to deal with the community every single day. “Community-orientated policing is a program that promotes interaction between officers and citizens and gives officers the time to meet with local residents to talk about crime in the neighborhood and to use personal initiative to solve problems” ( Siegel and Worrall 220). They constantly have a target on their back. So, why is there a big push for females in policing? Female officers have shown signs of being more community-orientated police officers. Female officers are more willing to talk to suspects or victims when in a position that could result in violence. Female officers focus on the community. Their strategy is to build relationships with the community to feel more protected in violent situations, while also building up trust with officers from the community. One situation where female officers show their true colors is during stop-and-frisks. A stop-and-frisk is when an officer will pull a citizen over, and if they are suspicious, the officer will search both the individual and the vehicle. A study by Shoub et al. provides evidence for this point. After looking at Florida Highway Patrol data, they conclude, “the relative difference is even larger: Male officers are over 272% more likely to conduct a search than female officers in the same context”(8). Notice how the quote shows how female officers are more likely to engage in conversation, which is why there is a big push for more female officers today.
Can We Change the Force?
Some citizens believe that our country needs to hire more people from the community, rather than just females. It is a strong point to make, but those who believe the previous statement do not know what the outcomes would be. Those citizens do not know how much a female officer can do for the police force. I previously stated that female officers are more community-orientated officers. Their work throughout history and the sources in this article have shown that they are more community-orientated. Female officers work on building relationships with the community, which in turn brings the police department’s ratings up. “Findings from our study suggest that a similar threshold operates within policing such that once women break out of a simple token representation within a department (our results suggest this happens once policewomen account for roughly 11 % or more of the force) there are fewer police killings in that jurisdiction” (Carmichael and Kent 15). This quote, provided by “The Use of Lethal Force by Canadian Police Officers: Assessing the Influence of Female Police Officers and Minority Threat Explanations on Police Shootings Across Large Cities,” points out one important comment. With just one police force having 11% of female officers, their killings go down. This draws back to the comment that females are less likely to use force, which then ties into their community-orientated policing strategies. In my research, I found Miller and Segal’s article where they highlight, on page 26, that even though police forces are hesitant on adding female officers, the forces do realize their outcomes do improve once there are more females.
One big push is being made right now to hire more female officers. The movement is being pursued by many different cities to get the representation of females in policing up to what the population is. Females make up 51% of the population, and this movement wants to represent that since the national average is only 13%. Cameron Knight from the Cincinnati Enquirer states, “Officials [Cincinnati City Manager Office] said the police force should also be representative of the population it serves, which is 51% women.” The movement being made is called 30 by 30. It is taking a stand to help fight the underrepresentation of females in policing to improve the police force image all around. The movement is focused on increasing the number of female officers to at least 30% since 51% would be a hard number to reach in just a few short years. We need females to join the force, not only to help the image but to also help the community. Stephanie Whitehead, in her interview, agreed that the 30 by 30 movement is a good thing and she wants to join the cause. “I think it’s a good idea. I think any way we can to get people in with communication skills because at the end of the day that is what policing is about. It’s about communication because that’s what they do”(Personal Interviewee, Stephanie). Communication is key in policing, and Stephanie believes that female officers have the communication skills available to them to be able to succeed in their careers.
Overall, we need more female officers. Female officers have had to face discrimination all throughout history, but that has not stopped them. Their use of force, which is rare, is crucial to today’s population. Female officers’ community-orientated policing will help strengthen our police forces, especially in this time of need with racial inequality. Female officers have the skills to improve forces with their work with domestic violence victims in the need of some emotional support. Some may think that females can be just as racist, too emotional, or too scared to join the force, but we need to hire them. Female officers can change the whole picture of policemen. We will have to stop the gender bias words, such as policemen. We instead can use words, such as cops or police, to make the words more gender-neutral. We as a country need to work together to get the female officers into the job because, in the end, female officers make it a safer force to work in by protecting other officers and the community.
Works Cited
Carmichael, Jason, and Stephanie Kent. “The Use of Lethal Force by Canadian Police Officers: Assessing the Influence of Female Police Officers and Minority Threat Explanations on Police Shootings Across Large Cities.” American Journal of Criminal Justice, vol. 40, no. 4, Dec. 2015, pp. 703–721. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s12103-014-9283-1.
Dickerson, Caitlin and Williams, Timothy. “Rarity of Tulsa Shooting: Female Officers Are Almost Never Involved.” The New York Times, 24 September 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/09/25/us/rarity-of-tulsa-shooting-female-officers-are-almost-never-involved.html.
Frantz, Ashley and Tolan, Casey. “Want to reform the police? Hire more women.” CNN, CNN Investigates, 23 June 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/23/us/protests-police-reform-women-policing-invs/index.html
Knight, Cameron. “Cincinnati police pledge to have 30% female officers by 2030.” Cincinnati Enquirer, 10 September 2021, https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2021/09/10/cincinnati-police-pledge-have-30-female-officers-2030/8273303002/
Krbechk, Anjuli and Bates, Karen. “When LA Erupted In Anger: A Look Back At The Rodney King Riots.” NPR, 26 April 2017, https://www.npr.org/2017/04/26/524744989/when-la-erupted-in-anger-a-look-back-at-the-rodney-king-riots
Lonsway, Kimberly A. “Hiring & Retaining More Women: The Advantages to Law Enforcement Agencies.” 30 Nov. 1999, https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED473183.
Miller, Amalia R., and Carmit Segal. “Do Female Officers Improve Law Enforcement Quality? Effects on Crime Reporting and Domestic Violence.” Review of Economic Studies, vol. 86, no. 5, Oct. 2019, pp. 2220–2247. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1093/restud/rdy051.
Shoub, K., Stauffer, K.E. and Song, M. (2021), Do Female Officers Police Differently? Evidence from Traffic Stops. American Journal of Political Science, 65: 755-769. doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12618
Siegel, Larry and John Worral. Introduction to Criminal Justice. Sixteenth Edition, Cengage Learning, 2018. indiana.courseload.com/#/content-28162/address/0
Stewart, Amy. “Female Police Officers Save Lives.” The New York Times, 26 July 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/07/26/opinion/female-police-officers-save-lives.html.
Whitehead, Stephanie. Personal Interview. 28 Oct. 2021