eld. Other than the major issue of gender, women have other issues to battle. Such as race related issues and competition in the workplace. Through out the history of women police officers and women in the law enforcement field have felt some kind of competition. The possibility that women feel as though they need to prove themselves to their male counterparts comes into play. Many societal changes had come and gone before women were widely accepted into the law enforcement work force. In England as early as the Eighteenth Century, during the hearing on a case in court- R. vs. Briggsthere was a discussion of the legality of women to serve in a certain compulsory office. One of the judges remarked: I do not know why a woman should not be appointed to be a constable. However a century passed before women were employed in police departments. (Owings, 1969)Even in that time and place, the statement made by the judge was most likely stating things that were not very well accepted or well liked. After a entire century women were finally let into the field, but not truly accepted. Now that these old ideas of women not being fit to serve or not being accepted at all have for the most part passed. Women are generally accepted but with the unspoken feelings of approval and need for acceptance being thought and felt. In the days of the first women police officers, disapproval and disbelief may have been words to explain and describe the way it was. Many women accepted their responsibilities with astonishing readiness, electrifying their followers into instant activity. When the moment is ripe for it, an idea generally flowers in more than one mind the honorary secretary of a womans suffrage society called the womans freedom league, was already engaged in organizing a body of policewomen. (Allen, 1973)This was then becoming the beginning of women being a mass part of the law enforcement field. Throughout all of the hardships and stereotypes throug...
