ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the need for women officers in the police, while at the same time describing the many barriers they face in being fully assimilated. It has been shown repeatedly that there has been considerable opposition to the entry of women into policing. The chapter explains the research that gives the overwhelming impression that a feminist perspective, whether implicit or explicit, has dominated research on women police. The role of women police was formally considered by Parliament in 1920, and in 1922 the full powers of a sworn constable were granted to women. American women police officers are aggressive and forthright in demanding equality in the police force. The empirical studies of women police was conducted by Susan Martin. Her work explored the effect on recruitment of women officers of the 1972 Amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 eliminating discriminatory practices.
