Guest Editorial
| Author | Tim Prenzler |
| DOI | 10.1177/146135579800100301 |
| Published date | 01 December 1998 |
| Date | 01 December 1998 |
| Subject Matter | Guest Editorial |
International Journal of Police Science &Management Volume 1
Number
3
Guest editorial
The
papers in this special issue
of
the
International Journal
of
Police Science
and Management
began
their
lives as
presentations
at
the
'First
Conference
of
Australasian
Women
Police'
held
in
Syd-
ney
in
July
1996.
The
conference
marked
a
most
important
milestone
in
the
development
of
women
in
policing
in
Australia
and
New
Zealand.
It was also a
special
occasion
for
policewomen
visiting
from
neighbouring
South
Pacific
and
South
Asian
countries,
including
Papua
New
Guinea,
Malaysia, Sri
Lanka,
In-
donesia,
Fiji
and
Pakistan.
The
conference
was
the
first
time
that
policewomen
III
Australia
and
New
Zealand
had
come
together
with
repre-
sentation
from
all
jurisdictions.
Alarge
number
of
academics
were
also
present,
as
well
as
public
servants
involved
in
human
resource
management.
The
very
diverse
range
of
papers
included
studies
by
university
researchers
on
issues
such
as
discrimination
and
sexual
harassment,
reports
from
practitioners
on
EEO
pro-
grammes,
as
well
as
papers
of
a
more
personal
testimonial
nature.
There
was a
great
deal
of
experience
and
knowledge
to
be
shared.
What
was
most
significant
about
the
conference,
however,
was
the
focus
on
policies to
advance
the
position
of
women
in
policing.
A
promising
outcome,
therefore,
was
the
formation
of
a
Women
in
Policing
Advisory
Com-
mittee
tasked
with
providing
advice
on
women's
issues
to
the
Commissioners
of
Police
of
Australasia.
One
may
ask,
'Why
study
women
III
Page 212
policing?'
and
'why
devote
a
whole
issue
of
a
new
policing
journal
to this
topic?'
There
are
some
very
good
reasons.
From
a
police
studies
perspective,
the
ques-
tion
of
gender
provides
an
important
and
neglected
means
of
assisting
the
under-
standing
of
many
standard
subjects
of
inquiry.
There
is
much
to
be
learnt
about
how
the
gendered
nature
of
police
or-
ganisations affects
how
police
work
is
performed.
It
opens
up
new
perspectives
on
problems
of
police-citizen
conflict, use
of
force,
the
common
problem
of
corrup-
tion,
as
well
as
the
continuing
preoccupa-
tion
with
law
enforcement
and
resistance
to
community
policing.
From
afeminist,
especially a
liberationist,
perspective,
the
case
of
women
in
policing
is
outstanding
for
providing
lessons
about
forms
of
male
resistance
to
equality
and
identification
of
the
successful strategies
which
have
al-
lowed
women
to
penetrate
one
of
the
most
conservative
of
male-dominated
in-
stitutions.
A
criminological
perspective
on
women
in
policing
will
also
benefit
from
attention
to
the
development
and
application
of
new
laws against sex
discrimination
and
in
support
of
affirmative
action.
There
are
many
useful lessons
to
be
learnt
from
policing
as a case
study
in
attempts
to
prevent
sex
discrimination
and
develop
compliance
with
EEO
requirements
in
large organisations.
The
selected
papers
in this special issue
represent
a
cross-section
of
material
from
the
conference.
The
majority
are
from
Australian
authors,
with
representation
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