Do women belong in law enforcement?
To rephrase the question . . . can women do the job at the same level as their male counterparts?
A few days ago, I was reading through the questions users asked at HubPages and this question (although worded a bit differently) was one that was getting many responses. It seems a lot of people still have it set in their minds that there are certain careers women shouldn’t be allowed to pursue. Law enforcement is one of those. The old-fashioned notion that women can’t handle the physical and emotional situations of the job is still alive and well in the United States.
Of the people who do think women can work in law enforcement, many of them seem to want to limit the type of work in which they’re involved. I can hear the tone of voice which relays the feeling of “Let the little ladies play in the boy’s game, but keep them where they can’t get hurt.” For these people, they’ll accept the idea as long as the women work in the dispatch office, handle the public relations section, or investigate crime scenes.
I’m one of the people – one of the rarer types – who think that if the woman can pass all of the tests and earn the badge, they belong out on the street right next to the males doing the same job. But some people will want to argue the women have it a lot easier – the training is different for them. That’s true only in a narrow sense of the word.
Let’s take a look at how tough it is and then determine who belongs where.
Is the job only for men?
Probably the hardest thing women have to overcome when they want to become a police officer is the fact they’re entering a male dominated field. There are probably still a lot of departments out there in which most of the men have that “good old boy” mentality and don’t want women to invade their workplace. However, that attitude seems to be fading as more women attend the training and demonstrate their ability to do the job.
And if the male police officers accept their female counterparts, why can’t the general public? Think about other careers or jobs that were once considered “male only”.
During the world wars, women worked in the steel mills – more because someone had to do it and many of the men were serving in the military than for any other reason. It wasn’t until the women were basically forced into those jobs that anyone gave a thought to the fact that women could perform the hot, heavy work just as well as the men. Once they proved they could do it, many of those women remained at the job.
And what were the reasons women couldn’t be doctors, lawyers, or engineers. I could bet many men thought the women wouldn’t be able to handle the emotional stress that could accompany those jobs. Worse, females weren’t thought of as smart enough to learn the skills necessary. Most people wouldn’t think the females are stupid, but they still view women as being too controlled by or swayed by their emotions to be able to perform a job when a situation can cause intense sadness or anger. That false idea has been proven wrong in the careers I mentioned and also in law enforcement.
So is the lack of support for females working in law enforcement because it’s most often viewed as a man’s career or because the women aren’t strong enough physically and emotionally?
The requirements
Once a woman decides she wants to become a police officer, most of the requirements are the same as those for men. I can see some of you shaking your heads and hear you saying “Not true. They don’t have to lift as much weight or do as many pushups.” I ask you “What point are you trying to make?”
Physically, men have to bench press a bigger percentage of their body weight, do a few more pushups and crunches per minute, and run a little faster than the women. But how much difference does that make for the rest of the training and the work once they’re on the job? According to people who answered the question I mentioned, it’s a big part of the reason women shouldn’t be an officer. I’ll talk more about this in a few minutes.
When it comes to the academy training, I would imagine it being a lot like basic training for the military. The instructors are there to teach you, not hold your hand. Unless there’s something that shouldn’t be happening going on behind the scenes, the instructors aren’t going to cut a female any slack. Why would they? If they don’t do their jobs properly, the rookie on the street could end up dead. No instructor would want the fact they were too easy on a recruit causing that person’s death on their conscience.
As mentioned, a few of the physical conditions are different. Everything else is the same. Every officer must learn and be able to (not all-inclusive):
Restrain and handcuff suspects.
Disable people without hurting them (when possible).
Use non-lethal tools such as batons and pepper spray.
Properly use weapons such as handguns and rifles.
Drive vehicles at all speeds and under all conditions.
Hone their skills of observation.
Handle situations involving angry and upset suspects and by-standers.
Negotiate with hostage takers.
And don’t think the women only have to face other women or smaller men in the practice exercises. How would that prepare them for real life? It wouldn’t. Female officers will, sooner or later, have to face taking down a man much larger and stronger than she is by herself. She has to be prepared and, for that reason, training involves taking on bigger men.
Can women handle the physical and emotional parts of the job?
The two main reasons people think women shouldn’t be in law enforcement can be summed up in statements such as:
If she has to fight a bigger person, they’ll beat her up because she can’t defend herself.
A guy can easily take a gun from a female.
She’ll get upset if someone dies and won’t be able to help anyone.
Women get too emotionally involved when they deal with rape and abuse victims.
Do you see the trend? According to these stated concerns, women aren’t physically or emotionally strong enough to handle the job. I say nonsense!
Bigger and stronger doesn’t always win the battle. As I learned from taking martial arts, speed and technique are also big factors. If there’s a difference in a female officer’s training, it’s how to use her smaller size to her advantage.
No one can take anyone’s (male or female) weapon any easier than some other person’s. Men have had their weapons taken in the same percentile as females.
It’s my opinion that if a person doesn’t get upset when someone dies, they’re not human. Training and experience over-rides the emotional response until the situation is under control.
Perhaps it is true women are more touched emotionally in cases of rape and abuse. This doesn’t always equate to an inability to keep on working. In fact, they just may be more focused on the solving the crime because of that emotional boost.
Recruiting women police officers
Now put aside your chauvinistic or old-fashioned points of view. Why can’t you accept the fact that women can be efficient and professional officers if the men wearing badges can do that? Why do you only think of all the bad things which can happen to female officers and think those same things can’t happen to the men?
When it comes to the many police departments around the United States seeking qualified applicants, they welcome women with open arms. In fact, if you take a look at YouTube, you’ll find many videos like the one provided in this article. The chiefs and sheriffs want more females in their ranks. Don’t think this has anything to do with looking good on paper and being able to say they have a certain percentage of female officers. If this were true, those women would be relegated to desk duties and crime scene investigating. No. What these men want are women capable of going out on the streets and catching the bad guys.
None of these men would want females working beside them if they thought the women couldn’t subdue a dangerous criminal or keep their emotions in check long enough to get information from the victims and/or witnesses.
Out on the streets
There are some tough girls out there. Whether in uniform, as a detective, or working undercover, they hold their own against some of the nastiest human beings on this planet. The male officers watch the woman’s back and vice versa. Without that trust based on the training they both received, they’d never be able to work together as a cohesive team. If the man is too worried about the woman, his attention isn’t where it should be and someone will, sooner or later, end up getting injured or killed. The same is true if the situation is reversed.
I’d never state as fact that the men and women push it out of their minds that they’re partnered with a member of the opposite sex. Yet every officer I’ve talked to has told me that when they’re on the street, they have a partner. Male or female doesn’t matter to them as long as that partner does his or her job. The team is built on mutual respect, not some chauvinistic view that the man has to “take care of the little lady”. They know their partner is capable of taking care of herself . . . and him if the need arises.
And can’t you ask the question the other way? There are male officers out there who aren’t any bigger than I am – 5’6″ and scrawny as can be. In fact, I’ve seen a few who were even smaller. Are they incapable of subduing a big, strong guy? Can they always keep possession of their weapon? There are also men who fall apart when they see murder victims (especially when those victims are children). They’re just as likely to cry when a victim has been raped or beat to a pulp by another person. Should these men still be wearing a uniform?
Let the officer’s actions show what they can do. Male or female, if they can’t handle the job you get rid of them. Otherwise, don’t criticize or make sweeping judgments about the officer for no other reason than she happens to be a woman. I, for one, don’t care what gender the officer may be. If I call 9-1-1 and the person comes to help and gets that job done, that’s all that matters.
Women can and do get the job done. They’re just as capable as their male counterparts. Check out the statistics for yourself and you’ll find the women and men hit around the same percentages when you talk about getting beat up, losing a weapon to a criminal, or being unable to control their emotions.
Yes, women should be police officers and can perform to the same levels as the men.
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