Gender & Policing

Page 1

Female Officer Deployment in 1992

•Control room dispatch

- 44%

•CIB - 16%

•Sexual abuse

teams -

14%

•Undercover and/or surveillance

work (often

as ‘decoys’ or ‘bait’) - 10%

•Youth aid - 9%

(Source:

Butterworth,

2005: 293)

Key Dates in History

•First 10 women recruits in 1941

•First woman appointed as sergeant 1961

•First woman appointed as inspector 1966

•First woman appointed as chief inspector

1985

•First woman appointed as Superintendent

1999

•Deputy Police Commissioner – non-sworn –

until 2009.

Female Officers by Rank

•Female officers 18.5% of all

constables

•Almost 85% of all female officers are

constables

•72% of all male officers are constables

•11.2% of

female officers sergeant - 18% of

men.

•3% of

female officers senior sergeant

-

almost 6% of

men

•29 female

Inspectors - 228

males,

•3

female Superintendents - 39 males,

•no female

assistant or deputy Commissioners.

•one male Commissioner.

Three Significant Career Aspects

Recruitment, Deployment, Promotion

5 major barriers to Recruiting Women

(Mossman, Mayhew, Rowe and Jordan: 2008)

•Minority

status

•isolation

•lack

of role models to

mentor, support & encourage

•Police

Culture

•Discrimination

and harassment

•Family

and childcare commitments

•Emphasis

on Physical skills

Policy Responses: Recruiting more Women

into NZ Police

•All

new employees complete induction

programme on diversity

•Gender

Equity initiative set up

•Women’s

Development Programme

•Northland:

‘Stand up and be counted’ - women in policing seminar

•Waitematā: Women

in policing seminar

•Wellington:

Enhanced

focus on women for all recruit wings

•Flexible

Employment Option policy & Sexual

Harassment policy

•New

recruitment drive launched in April 2014 & the ‘Women in Blue’ reality TV

show.

Arguments relating to the physical

‘unsuitability’ of women

1.

Perceptions of requirement of physical

stamina for

routine patrol duties

2. Belief about risk

of violence on the job prompts following questions:

i)

Morality

of exposing women to unpleasant situations (eg

violence)?

ii) Can

women deal with violence?

iii)

Do

women expose male colleagues to extra risk (‘natural’ male instinct to protect

women?)

iv)

Can

male officers rely on women for ‘physical’ back-up?

Counter Points

•The actual reality of police work:

o Much

police-work not crime related

o

Violent situations

relatively

infrequent

oEmpirical

studies on actual performance of female

officers

Rabe-Hemp ‘Does officer gender impact

on police behaviour’? (2013)

•Women

less likely

to use ‘extreme

controlling

behavior’:

threats - physical

restraints

•No evidence

that reluctance

to use extreme controlling behaviors leads

to negative outcomes

- officer or citizen

injury

•Increased

injury

for citizens &

officers associated with exerting too

much rather

than

insufficient force

•underutilization

of force

may

produce safer

police-citizen

encounters

•Recruiting

more female officers

one

way to

reduce incidents of excessive force

Promotion:

Barriers to Advancement & Specialisation of Women

1)the attitude of some male officers -

women generally & women in authority in particular

2)Length of service – progression through

the ranks

3)Lack of role models,

mentors

&

support

among senior ranks

4) Can be very difficult

to combine career & parenting/motherhood – limits to employment flexibility

Policy Responses

•Regular leadership

courses for Women

•National

Women’s

Consultative Committee

– It’s mission is to:

“assist

the organisation to achieve excellence in policing by realising the potential

of women through maximising opportunities, removing barriers and valuing

diversity”.

•Women

only

career development sessions

•41

Designated female

EEO & Diversity

Liaison

officers

in the

districts

•Women’s

mentoring programme

•Dedicated

professional development for female officers

•“Lets Talk” initiative:

“aimed

at increasing organisational knowledge of issues, barriers and the positive

aspects of life for women in Police”.

•Developing a

diversity & inclusion strategy

•New female recruitment drive

announced

April 2014

•Police Women's

Advisory Network