The 2,000th recruit to the women's police force in Great Britain was welcomed into the service recently, and there are now 10 times more policewomen in this country than before the war.
It is only since the war that policewomen have come to be generally accepted as an indispensable branch of the police service. There was, it is true, a wide recognition during the war years of the work that could be done by policewomen, but suitable women were not then available in great numbers. Under the impetus of war, the number of regular policewomen grew only from 282 in 1940 to 418 in 1945. The increase to 2,000 since 1945 has been gradual, and many local police forces have had to be urged by higher authority into recruiting policewomen as a normal part of their establishment.
During the period since the war the status of policewomen has vastly improved. To-day they are first and foremost police officers, with the same duties, responsibilities, and powers as policemen. Naturally, they have certain specialist duties, such as looking after women and children who are in trouble, but they are no longer restricted exclusively to those duties. Here again, the improvement has been gradual and has come about mainly through some leading forces setting an example in the intelligent employment of police women.
Experience since the war seems to show that the successful inauguration of an establishment of policewomen in any county or borough force is dependent, first, on the keenness of the chief constable to accept the idea; next, on the willingness of inspectors and sergeants to cooperate in the plan; and, thereafter, on the qualities of leadership displayed by the woman officer at the head of the establishment.
Most police forces with an establishment of 20 or more women are up to strength in that section and have a waiting list of applicants. In Birmingham, with an authorized establishment of 51, hundreds of letters have been received from girls of 15, wanting to know all about the policewomen's life; as 20 is the youngest age for enlistment, many of the inquirers will eventually forget their early enthusiasm. Some people are inclined to think that 20 is too high a minimum age and that possible younger recruits are lost to the service through having to wait till then.
Marriage, where it leads to resignation from the force, is the chief source of wastage among policewomen. But there are some compensating aspects: wastage increases the opportunities for promotion among those remaining, and, where the marriage is to a man in the force, the influence of the wife is of benefit both to her husband and to the force. This latter view may not be shared by all, but it does reflect the thoughts of some far-sighted police officers of long experience. Apart from that, a policewoman is not obliged to resign on marrying; she can also obtain maternity leave.
The basic training for a policewoman is the same as for a man and is taken alongside policemen at the same training centres. A policewoman has also the same opportunities of going into the C.I.D. branch, but for this purpose there is a separate training course for women only, provided at the West Riding detective training school and attended by women from all county and borough forces outside the Metropolitan District. Policewomen specializing in C.I.D. work have, in general, been found even more keen than men.
