Women in the Police Service
| Date | 01 April 1976 |
| Published date | 01 April 1976 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X7604900204 |
| Author | Jennifer Hilton |
| Subject Matter | Article |
CHIEF
INSPECTOR
JENNIFER
HILTON
Metropolitan Police
We congratulate Miss Hilton on winning the 1975 Queen's
Police Gold Medal and first prize of £75 with the following essay:
WOMEN IN THE POLICE SERVICE
"The
hesitation . . . arises in part . . . from the general skepticism
of mankind which does not really believe in an innovation until
experience proves its values." -Machiavelli.
Introduction
Two main points will be made in her essay. Firstly, that since
our culture's stereotype of women contains elements that are
desirable in a police service, popular prejudice should be ex-
ploited by giving greater emphasis to policewomen. Secondly,
that
differences between the sexes are often more apparent than
real, and so the integration of women into the police service on
equal terms with men can provide an opportunity to escape from
the artificial bonds of sexual stereotypes and set free the talents
of men and women as individuals.
"Police" is a word which throws a harsh, tough and masculine
picture on the screen before the mind's eye. A study' of the image
of the police service in this country found that the public thought
that
the least needed quality in a policeman was sympathy. The
nicknames which are attached to an enforcer of the law, "cop",
"fuzz", "pig", suggest an often hostile relationship with the public
we serve; only the kindest and most English, "bobby", is regularly
applied to policewomen as well as to policemen.
Sadly, the traditional
but
rather blurred English image of the
kind, patient, policeman is being overlaid by the more clear-
cut, tough, gun-carrying image portrayed in so many American
television series.
It
is no accident that the English language has
acquired its newest words for describing police officers from
across the Atlantic where the stereotype is drawn in harsh black
and white, and is typified by the essentially male figure of bald,
ex-wrestler Telly Savalas as Kojak.
The stereotype of the ideal police officer includes virtues such
as courage, strength, energy and decisiveness, which are generally
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