This paper considers the importance of comparative international studies of policing, with some key examples. The neglect of the position of female officers in these accounts is noted and, in the rest of the paper, an attempt is made to redress the balance by comparing the key features of the role of women in policing in Australia, Britain and the USA. The need for analytical models to include gender is noted, with some examples of how this might be done, and the explanatory powers of various taxonomies of policewomen's experiences are tested.