Asylum Mobilitarium: November 2013

Monday, November 18, 2013

Dallas Police Shield, December 2013

It’s hard to believe in the present time, but there was a moment in recent history where women were assigned to patrol cars on an “experimental” basis, and in only a few police departments nationwide. The Dallas Police Department was one that participated in the “experiment.”

Indianapolis, Indiana became the first police department to assign uniformed policewomen to squad cars. Peoria, Illinois in 1972, had a policy of equal pay for equal work and had assigned four women to special 1-person “report cars” and six to the streets.

In June, 1972 the DMN wrote an article that the assistant director of the Police Foundation, Catherine Milton, after a 10-month study, came to the conclusion that most major U.S. cities, including Dallas, were turning away qualified women at a time when departments across the country were having trouble attracting qualified male recruits to train to become police officers.

The study came to the conclusion that women, if properly trained, can perform patrol duties as effectively as men and have certain advantages in potentially dangerous situations. Despite the availability of women, urban police departments have set quotas on the number of women who may enter a police force, Ms. Milton said. The study also found that average policewoman is better educated than her male counterpart and less apt to provoke violence when she is presented with a potentially volatile confrontation.

“I was surprised by the depth of antagonism against women,” said Ms. Milton who had visited most of the nation’s major urban police departments during the study, but also said that “I also was surprised by the number of police chiefs willing to take a chance.”

The study credited the Dallas Police Department and Chief Frank Dyson with improving morale of Dallas policewomen by opening promotional examinations, hiring additional women and ordering his staff not to use policewomen as secretaries. (?)

Yes it’s pretty amazing to be presented these scenarios where a policewoman in 1972, would possibly become a secretary.

The quota for woman in the DPD increased from 21 to 32 in October, 1971, by order of Chief Dyson. However DPD policewomen, like those all over the country, typically were not started in patrol but a more specialized bureau such as juvenile. The report concluded that there was a need, nationally, for “many more policewomen in patrol and investigative functions.”

In 1972 within the Dallas Police Department, there were 34 black officers, 19 were Spanish-speaking and 32 were women in a department of 1800 officers.

A few weeks later a story appeared in the Dallas Morning News where the DPD appeared to be finally ready to accept the idea of placing uniformed women in squad cars. All signals were a go and indicated that the DPD would soon place a few “carefully screened” policewomen in squad cars by mid-summer 1972 on an experimental basis. However Chief Dyson stated that “I don’t want to be pushed into using women in patrol cars before a proper program is developed.” This apparently was a direct reference specifically to growing pressure from the women’s lib movement in Dallas, and generally nationwide.

Chief Dyson said that the selection process is important. “First, you must get women willing to work patrol. Second, these women must have the proper attitude in that they must not expect to be treated as a woman on the street.” He also said “Keep in mind, these women (on patrol) are police and they stand a chance of being hurt.”

Dyson confirmed that the trend across the country towards a more liberal policy in the assignment of women police is having an effect in Dallas.

Yes, times were changing in police work, by the time this writer hired on with DPD in 1977, female officers were totally integrated into police work with the DPD. Really I don’t remember it being any big deal training alongside female recruits. It was already accepted and welcomed by the other male recruits in the academy, that being class #148. What are up to now, class #1153 or something? Wow, time flies.

By the way, Miami Florida was the first to assign a uniformed female sergeant to supervise men on patrol.