e regarded by the public as a much greater departure from the ideal of an unarmed police (Brown and Sargent, 1995). Appeal to litigation in Britain is rare but perhaps because of this when cases occur they attract considerable attention. Wendy de Launay brought an early successful case when a supervisor returned her to foot patrol duties believing that her being partnered with a male colleague in a patrol car adversely affected morale. An incomplete case involving Assistant Chief Constable Alison Halford's claim that she had been passed over for promotion in favour of less able male candidates resulted in a review of the appointment of chief officers. In the United States, progress of women officers has been stimulated by mandatory hiring quotas and considerable individual litigation testing equal opportunities legislation (Heidensohn, 1992). Drawing upon the comparative data set, then it can be suggested that women from all jurisdictions believe that they have been discriminated against in terms of deployment, promotion prospects, training and opportunities for overtime payments. Again, there is an underlying trend for greater levels of reported discrimination as the police jurisdictions move farther West. Table two: Reported discrimination by policewomen areas of Eastern Europe Western Europe Britain USAdiscrimination % % % %----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Promotion 14 26 18 45Deployment 28 29 55 60Training 14 24 25 47Overtime 114 37 19 19----------------------------------------------------------------------------------THE GENTLE TOUCH There is some research evidence...
