She has attitude, gumption and smarts. She wades into situations and seems to be able to diffuse them through the use of negotiation rather than the use of physical means. She is a darn clever lady and one cop to be reckoned with, and so is her partner, a male. The whole issue here is not whether it is right or wrong to have women policing. The issue is whether the women are able to do the job of policing effectively, and the answer is a resounding YES.

What’s really going on here is the archaic attitudes that some people have been brought up with, the idea that women’s place is in the home. Women started joining police forces in the 1960’s and the numbers have risen dramatically since then. Women have a different communication style than men. While that may seem obvious to some, it is even more evident on the job where they seem to have a “magic touch” in diffusing tense situations.

Take for instance domestic disputes that police hate because they are such highly volatile situations. When a women cop hits the door her internal radar identifies with the family situation and with the female in trouble. She doesn’t forget that first and foremost she is a cop, but she does intuitively “get” what’s really going on in the argument.

She understands, one woman to another, issues that not all males comprehend. This isn’t to say that male police offices aren’t effective in domestic situations, because they are. They just have a different method of communicating, usually one that is more physical in nature, while the female officer will strive for negotiating. Is this right or wrong?

There is no right or wrong here. No one cop is better than another cop point of view. The fact of the matter is that these two “people” that are also cops, work well and effectively together as a team. Neither is better than the other. They are a combination of skills that are blended to handle situations they face together. We’re talking humans helping humans when policing help is needed.

At Police Ready, we are behind you every step of the way on your journey to become a cop. We are here to help, cheer you on, answer your questions and provide hints and tips to take the tests we have on our site.

Without putting too fine a point on it, femininity has sweet tweet to do with being a good police officer. That is an attitude from back when the dinosaurs walked the land. Women are people, and have always been. The fact that they wear a skirt now and then has nothing to do with whether or not they are capable of policing.

Women in policing have come a long way since the early 1800’s when women were first hired in New York jails to be matrons. Actually many police women who pull holding cell duty these days are still called matrons, but their role is vastly different than what it used to be way back then.

The women police officers of today are every bit as capable, competent, caring and courageous as their male counterparts. They are able to shoot, run and drive like demons when the need arises and don’t take guff handed out by suspects any more than their male partners do. The one area they do shine in is communicating with suspects. It’s been proven that most men about to be arrested by a male cop will calm down when talking to a female cop.

If statistics doesn’t convince you, then real life examples would. If you are a female officer, you will find those examples the minute you hit the streets and start dealing with people in your community. In fact, you will already have been the voice of reasonable communication in action during your police-training course when dealing with male classmates. It’s a gift that many women seem to have – the ability to negotiate and to bring some semblance of order to a nasty situation.

It seems that the numbers of women in policing in the United States are dropping from their relatively low numbers in the first place. A sad commentary on the issues that face all forces across the States, as women have a much more even handed approach to dealing with conflict on the job with people in tense situations.

Even though the stats for the US look to be a bit on the dismal side, happily the same cannot be said for Canada. Statistics Canada figures reported that women accounted for over 18 percent of all cops in Canada as of May 2008 or 12,200 female officers. In the US that figure sits a bit shy of 12 percent and is rapidly falling.

Another thing to note about the numbers is that in Canada they have been increasing steadily every year. The reverse is true for US police forces. What makes the yearly increases interesting for Canadians is that while female recruits sit at the 18 per cent mark and higher, the number of male recruits only rose roughly one per cent. While there are no hard and fast reasons for the differences, one may only speculate about why the number of men seems to be on the decline.

Despite the increase in numbers for female recruits, there still remains many problems for them to deal with, including uneven hiring practices, unrealistic expectations for them during physical training and recruitment policies in place since Hector was a pup. Some of the police departments in Canada definitely need to update their recruiting, hiring and training manuals.

Women have been in policing careers since the 1960’s and their role has increasingly expanded over the intervening years. It’s definitely a LONG way from the role women first played in policing in 1845 when they were referred to as “matrons.” Now the women in uniform have as much of an active role to play in all forms of policing, including the role of Commander, as men do.

While women’s attitudes have changed towards policing, can the same be said of men’s attitudes? Well, in the 21st century many men have grown up with sisters and regard them as equals. That has made some differences in how they are looked at in the academy. However, the attitude that “I can give as good as I get,” sometimes meets a brick wall when it comes to the rigours of physical training.

Physically, or rather anatomically speaking, females do have a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to upper body strength. This isn’t to say they aren’t able to work on it and keep up, as many women do. It just happens to be one of those things that doesn’t have to do with attitude, book learning, mental abilities or anything else other than that is just the way women are made.

This is something many female recruits work long and hard to overcome, and succeed. Think about this as you make your way through the training process. Think about your goal and you will find a way to attain it. We know that, and we have every confidence in you at Police Ready.

Police Ready is here to help you, guide you, answer your questions and give you hints and tips to make your journey easier. The only thing you need to do, and you are already doing it, is join us and work side-by-side to be the best police officer you can be.

As an introduction, our first blog in this series will explore the demographics among police personnels in both the United States and Canada. How many female officers are there? Has this number increased or decreased over the past years?

Here is a quick link to the blog article – Are There Fewer Women in Policing?