Women have always been underrepresented in the policing profession, and, early on, women police officers were put on desk duty or restricted to dealing with minor offenses.1 In some departments, the first women officers were unsworn and received less pay than their male coworkers.2 Traditionally, police work has been seen as a masculine profession, and the general image of policing has focused on the aspects that are “stereotypically male.”3 However, research has documented the benefits of female police officers as part of the force, including ensuring the interests of the public, demonstrating a commitment to equal opportunity, enhancing the public image of police, building better relationships with communities, and enhancing an ethic of care.4
In 2021, women represented 13.1 percent of all sworn police officers in the United States.5 This is higher than in 2001 when women made up 12.7 percent of all police officers but lower than the high of 14.3 percent in 1999.6 In 1990, women made up only 9 percent of all sworn police officers in the United States but hiring then increased so much that “one of the most noticeable changes in American police organizations during the 1990s was the hiring of female and minority officers.”7
As part of the 30×30 Initiative to have women make up 30 percent of U.S. police officers by 2030, Foundation Research Associates (FRA) asked that a survey be conducted with the female police officers who were registered for the inaugural Women in Law Enforcement Summit in 2022. This was an exploratory study that was designed to understand why women enter policing and how they feel they are perceived by the public and their departments. Of the 180 registrants sent the survey, 132 were returned, but due to missing and incomplete data, only 129 were accounted for. Respondents reported on a variety of information, including why they became police officers; how they feel they are treated by their fellow male officers, as well as the public; and how well they perform their duties. Policy implications to recruit women officers include a combination of flexible employment practices and affirmative action quotas.
Past and Present Surveys
In 2007, Richard Seklecki and Rebecca Paynich conducted a national survey of women police officers in the United States to find out, among other things, why they became police officers, what their experiences were, and how they perceived they were treated by their departments and the public they served. They mailed 2,000 surveys to police departments across the country, and 531 were filled out and returned.8 Seklecki and Paynich found that the primary motivation for becoming a police officer was a desire to help people, and while job security was the primary motivator for staying on the job, helping people was second.
Aiyana Ward, Tim Prenzler, and Jacqueline Drew reviewed developments in gender-oriented recruitment policies in Australia over a five-year period (2015–2019). They were hoping to identify successful strategies to increase the number of women police officers. To do this, they conducted an “audit style survey” of police departments by searching departmental websites for policy statements, annual reports, press releases, and any special reports.9 All eight of the departments researched adopted a goal of 50:50 male-female targets in recruitment, and the main mechanisms to achieve this goal was targeted recruitments campaigns. However, due to limited information, “gauging the effects of these innovations was difficult,” and only one department (South Australia) achieved this goal in 2018 when their recruiting class was 51.3 percent female.10 All of the other departments either increased their number of female recruits but fell short of the 50 percent goal or saw a decrease in the number of women recruits. The three departments that achieved the 50 percent goal—or came closest—had newly appointed police commissioners, who were “champions of equity.”11
The average age of the FRA survey sample was 43.4 years (sd=10.39) with a range of 72–21 years. Much of the sample were White (79.8 percent) and non-Hispanic (89.1 percent). Most of the officers were from the South (29.5 percent), but the region with the fewest responses (19.4 percent) came from the Northeast. Over half of the respondents worked for a municipal police department (58.9 percent), and almost seven in ten had a bachelor’s degree (37.2 percent) or a master’s degree (31.8 percent). The majority did not serve in the military (84.5 percent), and the average years of service was 17.03 years (sd=10.80) with a range of 1–38 years. Over one third of the respondents were at the officer rank (36.4 percent), and about the same number were assigned to patrol duty (33.3 percent), which is much less than the officers surveyed by Seklecki and Paynich, where over half (53.4 percent) were assigned to patrol.12 Just under half of the sample said that they became a police officer because of a desire to help people (49.6 percent), which is higher than the sample of women officers in Seklecki and Paynich’s study, where just under three in ten (29.8 percent) responded to the statement the same way.
Work experiences often differ according to gender.13 Most of the statements in the FRA survey sought to ascertain how respected women police officers feel; overall, the respondents feel respected on the job. Over half (53.5 percent) of the sample disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement, “I have a difficult time being accepted by my male coworkers because I am a woman,” and just over a quarter (26.3 percent) agreed or strongly agreed. This was not the case for new officers, since a slightly higher percentage of respondents (57.4 percent) agreed or strongly agreed to the statement, “When I entered law enforcement, I was treated with less respect than my male coworkers.” Also, 59.7 percent agreed or strongly agreed that “Female officers in my department are valued.” Unfortunately, under half (48.1 percent) said that the public gives them the same respect as their male coworkers, so while female police officers might feel accepted in their departments, they don’t feel the same way about the people they have sworn to protect.
“However, research has documented the benefits of female police officers as part of the force, including ensuring the interests of the public, demonstrating a commitment to equal opportunity, enhancing the public image of police, building better relationships with communities, and enhancing an ethic of care.”
In terms of respecting female police officers, it looks like society has work to do. These women put their lives on the line to protect the public every day, yet just over half said that they don’t have a difficult time being accepted by their male coworkers. However, this looks like an improvement over how respected they felt when they started out as an officer. Nonetheless, it is discouraging that the majority do not feel respected by the public that they swore to protect. While most of the women in the FRA study feel as if they do their jobs as well as or better than their male coworkers, they also feel like they must portray traditionally male characteristics.
While this study sampled women police officers from across the United States, only officers who were registered for the FRA Conference were surveyed. Therefore, this is not a nationally representative sample. Also, this study was conducted at a time that can be generously described as not police friendly. With the effects of the riots of 2020 still being felt, and some (albeit fewer) voices calling for the defunding of the police, it is hard to see how these things would not influence how police officers felt about their chosen profession.
Recommendations
It cannot be overstated how important it is to recruit and retain qualified, motivated women to become police officers, especially if the 30×30 Initiative goal is to be reached. Past efforts included measures like selection panels, inclusive advertising, and flexible employment, to affirmative action practices like intake quotas.14 In South Africa, police departments have attracted and promoted female officers through mentoring programs and quotas.15 One study found that the qualities that women bring to policing “have yet to be embraced” by police administrators, so perhaps even a change in leadership at local departments is needed.16 If the people at the top don’t value and reward women police officers, frontline officers likely won’t either.
Whatever policies are put in place, it looks like there has to be buy-in not only from police administrators but also from the people in government who have a say in hiring decisions. In order to encourage women to become police officers, jurisdictions could offer flexible work options; extended maternity leave; and child care options, like daycare centers at the department, or monetary assistance with daycare. Perhaps women officers could be offered a tax incentive or, if they have any, assistance with repayment of student loans. A public relations approach that advertises the many benefits of having female police officers could not only help with recruitment but also inform the public about why female officers are a benefit to the community. Ward and Prenzler found that the group Surrey’s Women’s Association was instrumental in educating police leadership about gender issues, and that aided in the Surrey Police Department reaching 33 percent female sworn officers.17 This sounds like what the 30×30 Initiative was designed to achieve.
However the goal of 30 percent of police officers being women is reached, these efforts can and should be guided by research to learn what works best in increasing and promoting the number of female police officers in the United States. 🛡
Notes:
1 Terry Eisenberg, Robert H. Fosen, Albert S. Glickman, Police-Community Action: a Program for Change in Police-Community Behavior Patterns (New York, NY: Praeger Publishers, 1973).
2Samuel Walker, Taming the System: The Control of Discretion in Criminal Justice (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1993).
3 Vivian Lord and Paul Friday, “Choosing a Career in Police Work: A Comparative Study between Applicants for Employment with a Large Police Department and Public High School Students,” Police Practice and Research 4, no. 1 (2003): 63–78, 63.
4Amie M. Schuck, “Women in Policing and the Response to Rape: Representative Bureaucracy and Organizational Change,” Feminist Criminology 13, no. 3 (July 2018): 237–259; Jennifer Brown and Marisa Silvestri, “A Police Service in Transformation: Implications for Women Police Officers,” Police Practice and Research 21, no. 5 (2020): 495–475; John A. Shjarback and Natalie Todak, “The Prevalence of Female Representation in Supervisory and Management Positions in American Law Enforcement: An Examination of Organizational Correlates,” Women and Criminal Justice 29 no. 3 (2019): 129–147; Marisa Silvestri, “Gender Diversity: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back … ,” Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice 9, no. 1 (March 2015): 56–64; Cara E. Rabe-Hemp, “Female Officers and the Ethic of Care: Does Officer Gender Impact Police Behaviors?,” Journal of Criminal Justice 36, no. 5 (September–October 2008): 426–434.
5Veera Korhonen, “Gender Distribution of Full-time U.S. Law Enforcement Employees 2021,” Statista (October 10, 2023).
6Richard Seklecki and Rebecca Paynich, “A National Survey of Female Police Officers: An Overview of Findings,” Police Practice and Research 8, no. 1 (2007): 17–30.
7Jihong “Solomon” Zhao, Ni He, and Nicholas P. Lovrich, “Pursuing Gender Diversity in Police Organizations in the 1990s: A Longitudinal Analysis of Factors Associated With the Hiring of Female Officers,” Police Quarterly 9, no.4 (2006): 463–485, 463.
8Seklecki and Paynich, “A National Survey of Female Police Officers.”
9Aiyana Ward, Tim Prenzler, and Jacqueline Drew, “Innovation and Transparency in the Recruitment of Women in Australian Policing,” Police Practice and Research 21, no. 5 (2020): 525–540, 528.
10Ward, Prenzler, and Drew, “Innovation and Transparency in the Recruitment of Women in Australian Policing,” 536.
11Ward, Prenzler, and Drew, “Innovation and Transparency in the Recruitment of Women in Australian Policing,” 537.
12Seklecki and Paynich, “A National Survey of Female Police Officers.”
13Robin N. Haarr and Merry Morash, “Gender, Race, and Strategies of Coping with Occupational Stress in Policing,” Justice Quarterly 16, no. 2 (1999): 303–306.
14Tim Prenzler, One Hundred Years of Women Police in Australia (Samford, AU: Australian Academic Press, 2015); Ward, Prenzler, and Drew, “Innovation and Transparency in the Recruitment of Women in Australian Policing.”
15Aiyana Ward and Tim Prenzler, “Good Practice Case Studies in the Advancement of Women in Policing,” International Journal of Police Science & Management 18, no. 4 (2016): 242-250.
16Amie M. Schuck, “Female Representation in Law Enforcement: The Influence of Screening, Unions, Incentives, Community Policing, CALEA, and Size,” Police Quarterly 17, no. 1 (2014): 54–78.
17Ward and Prenzler, “Good Practice Case Studies in the Advancement of Women in Policing.”
Please cite as
PJ Verrecchia, “Learning from the Perceptions of Women in Policing: A Survey of Women Police Officers,” Police Chief Online, March 20, 2024.
