ABSTRACT
Female police officers are sometimes still confronted with the 'traditional view that women do not belong on patrol because of their lack of physical strength and ability to maintain an authoritarian presence in the face of challenges that the public can present to police' (Grennan, 1987). Despite the continuing debate about the differences between women and men police officers, relatively little research has been done to determine what the differences are. Contrary to the common view that women police officers are not as physically active or capable as their male counterparts in general duties policing, recent research undertaken jointly by the Criminal Justice Commission and The Queensland Police Force has shown very few gender differences in the occurrence or frequency of a number of physical activities undertaken during work time, or in the rate and type of work-based injury. In particular, there were no gender differences in the performance of activities associated with managing a non-compliant offender. It is argued that such evidence could help to overcome some current practices — such as differences in deployment at both branch and task level, feelings of isolation and hostility from male officers — which still appear to discriminate against women in policing in Australia today.
