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Sara Rowley

Mr. Lehauli

Criminal Justice PM

14 October 2019

The Benefits of Women in Law Enforcement

Throughout the history of law enforcement, the police force has typically been dominated

by men. While there may have been a few exceptions, women were never seen as physically or

mentally strong enough to protect their communities from threats. However, as people and

technology evolve, the requirements to be a successful police officer have changed too. Women

are no longer seen as detrimental to law enforcement. Now their effective communication

abilities, unique skill sets, and tendencies to strengthen police-community relations are being

recognized as beneficial for the police force.

Often, situations arise that do not always require brute force. Women offer

communicative skills that men don’t always have that can resolve these situations. For example,

when dealing with frustrating individuals, women are much more likely to reason, while men

may result in yelling or violence. This ability to defuse potentially dangerous problems is

extremely beneficial to the police force, especially when police are constantly facing accusations

of excessive force and police brutality. As a result, women are in fewer lawsuits, saving police

agencies millions.

Additionally, women have a unique skill set that helps when it comes to sexual crimes

and assault. Before the Act against discrimination was passed, there were a few instances of

female police officers, but only to work with children and women. They were more successful

than men at getting victims to feel comfortable talking about what happened, and as such made it
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possible for their offenders to be found and prosecuted. These skill sets have only developed

since then, and with women on the police force, they can teach the skill set to men, that way all

police officers can talk to and investigate victims of sexual crimes as effectively as women.

Finally, because female officers are better known for treating people with more respect, and they

can help a wider range of citizens, they help to develop stronger police-community relations.

This is extremely important because when the public is afraid or suspicious of police officers,

they are less likely to cooperate and aid in investigations. Moreover, with stronger relationships

between officers and those they protect, there will be fewer instances where officers are injured

in hate crimes.

So if women are so beneficial to law enforcement and the community, why aren’t there

more of them? There are a few reasons. The first being that recruitment strategies are primarily

targeted at men, so without an intriguing hook, they have no incentive to join. Requirements like

physical tests, also heavily favor the upper body strength of men making it a little bit more

difficult for women to be as successful, although there have been some adjustments in favor of

women. There are even women applying to and becoming chiefs and leaders, on the force but to

keep that up, there need to be more women joining.

In conclusion, women are an extremely valuable resource for law enforcement. They help

to communicate and diffuse potentially dangerous situations, rather than escalating to violence.

This helps the police force to save money in lawsuits, as well as to save grace by reducing

accusations and charges against police brutality. They also help a wider range of citizens, as

many victims against sexual assault and crimes are more willing to come forward and report

what happened to women. These equate to women creating a stronger relationship between the
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police force and citizens. Women in law enforcement benefit our society and it is important to

encourage women to join law enforcement.

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Works Cited

● https://onlinedegrees.sandiego.edu/women-in-law-enforcement/

● https://www.allcriminaljusticeschools.com/law-enforcement/women-in-law-enforcement/

● https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/women-law-enforcement