Police Woman

Women in law enforcement agencies have typically been outnumbered by men. The first policewoman in Germany was recruited in 1903, the first in the USA appeared in 1910 and the first in England just a few years later. Since that time many law enforcement agencies have sought to reduce discrimination and increase the numbers of women working in this sector.

Women have played an important role in enforcement since the early 1990s in Austria. So much so, that on 1 September 2017 Michaela Kardeis became the first female chief of federal Austrian police, which includes all police units in the country and a staff of 29,000 police officers.

Henriette Arendt was a German Policewoman in 1903.

In 1908, the first three women: Agda Hallin, Maria Andersson and Erica Ström, was employed in the Swedish Police Authority in Stockholm upon the request of the Swedish National Council of Women, who referred to the example of Germany. Their trial period was deemed successful and from 1910 onward, policewomen were employed in other Swedish cities. However, they did not have the same rights as their male colleagues: their title were Polissyster (Police Sister), and their tasks concerned women and children, such as taking care of children brought under custody, perform body searches on women, and other similar tasks which were considered unsuitable for male police officers.

In 1930, the Polissyster were given extended rights and were allowed to be present at houses searches in women's homes, conduct interrogations of females related to sexual crimes, and patrol reconnaissance work. In 1944, the first formal police course for women opened; in 1954, the title "police sister" were dropped and police officer allowed for both men and women, and from 1957, women received equal police education to that of their male colleagues.

In March 2016, 28.6% of police officers in England and Wales were women. This was an increase from 23.3% in 2007. Notable women in the police forces include Cressida Dick, the current Commissioner (chief) of the Metropolitan Police Service.

World War I provided an impetus for the first appointment of female officers. The first woman to be appointed a police officer with full powers of arrest was Edith Smith, who was sworn in to Grantham Borough Police in 1915. A small number were appointed in the ensuing years. Policewomen would originally be in separate teams or divisions to the men, such as the A4 division in the Metropolitan Police. Their duties were different, with the early policewomen being limited to dealing with women and children. This separation ended in the 1970s.

...
Wikipedia