to suggest the emergence of a female cop culture. Martin's (1979) reported a distinctiveness in policewomen and their policing. Young (1991:240) finds examples of the "new policewoman" amongst British women officers whom he estimates make up about 10 per cent of the female establishment. These women officers adopt a feminine competence which makes little concession to entrenched stereotypes. Interestingly Hunt's (1990) notion of women's cop culture is its reforming character, a theme which has resonance with the earlier history of women police. This can be illustrated by the following quotations. "It was expected that the policewoman, thanks to her personal qualities... would bring into police work new methods, at once more social and more humane, and would become particularly indispensable" Paleolog (nd 16) "The Police Judiciare has little experience with women in the combatting of organised crime though we may state that these few women have an enormous motivation... a different perspective on this sort of work, which can have an enriching and a refreshing effect" [original emphasis] Belmans (1994) The first observation was made of Polish police women in 1925, the second of Belgium police women nearly sixty years later. Yet both comments express the same sentiment about differences of style and method that women may bring to policing, and the inference that there were therefore difficulties within these respective police forces that women's skills could redress.. Considerable research effort has examined the occupational culture of the police and the status of women officers within it, notably in the United States (Martin 1979, 1980, 1989,1990; Hunt 1990) and in Britain (Jones 1986,1987; Brewer, 1991; Young 1991; Heidensohn 1992; Fielding 1994; Walklate 1993, 1995). This body of work portraits a picture of an informal "canteen" cop culture in which scatological humour, boasting about sexual exploits and feats of physical prowess domi...
