ABSTRACT

The Sex Discrimination Act was introduced as legislation in Great Britain in 1975. The police service responded by integrating the existing Women's Sections and the main operational body of the rest of the service. Despite the introduction of equal opportunities policies in many services in the late 1980s and early 1990s, real change was slow in filtering down through the ranks and it could be argued that early policy changes were entirely notional. This study examines the attitudes and experiences of some officers in one division of Sussex Police since the implementation of such a policy. The first part of the paper looks at recent research which addresses general issues surrounding women in the police. The paper then examines the research findings and discusses whether equal opportunities policies alone can effect change for women in the police. A key issue identified in this study is the lack of flexibility for female officers who wish to take career breaks for having children, which effectively limits their promotional opportunities.