Beyond Race: Female Officers and Violent Police Encounters

The Current Climate

Tension between minority and law enforcement communities is palpable, undeniable, and deeply troubling. Police encounters that end in violence, along with complaints of excessive force by police, lead the news. These high-profile incidents eerily remind us of deep racial divisions in our nation's history. Police officers not only cannot fix the social and racial injustices that they see every day, but they also cannot ignore them. Police departments must implement transparent institutional policies that will strengthen community bonds and rebuild trust in the rule of law.

When police officers and citizens clash, the raw murky truth is sometimes lost amid external noise. In today's world, cell phone videos, bystander interviews, and social media streams feed an insatiable media frenzy in which public narratives of tragic events take shape before facts can be methodically gathered and reviewed. We are all familiar with the 2014 tragedy involving Michael Brown, the young African American male who was fatally shot by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, and whose death galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement. Upon a review of facts and evidence, many police-involved shootings, including Mr. Brown's, are determined to be justified, but we know that tragically some are not. Surely, we can all agree that the unjustified use of force by police is unacceptable.

Trust in our nation's police has eroded, and eruptions of violence against police have rattled us. Lost in the noise are issues that extend beyond race, but pertain to gender. Lost is the sobering fact that 50% of fatal police shootings in 2015 were white males, and 26% were black males (Bandler and Aaron 2016). Lost is the fact that 94% of those fatally shot by police in 2015 were men (National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial 2015). Lost is the fact that of police officers killed by suspects with guns, 99% were men (Officer Down 2016).

Lost is the alarming fact that firearms-related police deaths are up significantly in 2016 (MacDonald 2016). The dynamic in some communities has shifted from one of support for police to one of fear and hatred. Many police officers, and their family members, feel that they are targets for violence because they wear the badge. In addition, many dedicated, experienced African American police officers report that they feel torn between their allegiances to race and to duty (Deslatte and Burdeau 2016).

Need for Diversity

Police departments are only as good as the officers they hire, and administrators are concerned that the current hostile environment will present obstacles to future hiring and retention of the best possible people (Barrett 2016). Over the last few decades, more women and minority police officers have been hired in recognition of a need for diversity, but their numbers remain low.

Empirical studies have proven that police officers with college educations and/or greater experience use significantly less verbal and physical force in their encounters with citizens (Paoline and Terrill 2007). Knowing this, police administrators should attach high priority to recruiting and hiring applicants with a minimum of a college education. Next, they should be examining recruiting, hiring, training, assignment, and promotion practices with a sharper emphasis on diversity. To be reflective of society, new hires must include more applicants of color and greater numbers of women. Succession planning and promotions must take diversity into account. In addition, training officers must also be experienced veteran officers.

Acknowledging the need for diversity, my claim is that if we step up the hiring of women and increase the number of female patrol officers on the street, the incidence of violent street encounters can be significantly reduced.

The Need for Women

My recently completed doctoral research was a qualitative interview study using a purposive sample of the first female agents in the highly gendered Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) (Glasser 2016). The historical context for their experiences was significant given social and legal mandates for equal opportunity in the 1970s, gender-specific research on female nontraditional career choices and career efficacy, and the impact of gender integration on masculine culture. Portions of the research literature and data are applicable to discussions of gender differences between police officers and the need for greater diversity in law enforcement.

The earliest police departments were established in the mid-1800s and were closed to women. Gender integration of police departments has historically met strong resistance (Heidensohn 1996). Male officers have perpetuated myths about women's lack of emotional fitness (Horne 1980). Women's experiences have been marked by lack of opportunity, mobility, and power (Martin and Jurik 2006). Early policewomen were ineligible for promotions and were limited to work in women's units (Price 1996). They were treated as social workers and were assigned duties with lower status, such as clerical, juvenile, and guard duties (Schulz 1995). They were assigned to administrative positions that cast them as token members of their departments (Kanter 1975). Until the 1970s, most policewomen were not permitted to perform even basic patrol duties. Male administrators effectively blocked female officers from advancement by denying them access to the requisite operational experience (Price 1996). Female officers have also faced discrimination, harassment, and intimidation within their departments (Garrison et al. 1998).

Passage of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1974 changed the landscape of opportunity for women in America. Mandating gender equity in education and employment, women now have far more opportunities than they ever had in the past. An increasing number of women have chosen to work in nontraditional careers, but the field of law enforcement remains one of the least gender diverse. This is ironic given that many institutions of higher education consistently report that more women declare criminal justice majors than men. A large gap exists between women studying criminal justice and the number of women who become police officers. For a variety of reasons, most women remain uninterested in being police officers.

In 1970, only a small percentage of police officers were women. By 2015, this percentage had grown to only 13%, despite the fact that women represented 47% of the workforce (U.S. Department of Labor 2015). The total numbers of female officers remained small and the pace of integration was slow (Schulz 1995). Low numbers were partly due to the fact that women were routinely screened out of the selection process based on height, weight, and physical standards. In addition, training and promotion practices served to keep the numbers of women artificially low (Lonsway et al. 2003). Many of the standards formerly used by police departments were later ruled to be invalid (Lonsway et al. 2003). The largest increases in numbers occurred in agencies that were subject to consent decrees or other court orders that mandated the hiring and promotion of women. Such orders were imposed after women brought sex discrimination lawsuits against their departments (Lonsway et al.).

Female Officers Add Value

A pervasive masculine culture has historically permeated the law enforcement profession (Heidensohn 1996). Female officers have often been regarded as less capable than men because, typically, they are smaller in physical size and muscle mass. Detractors have also questioned whether women have the emotional fitness to be police officers. Because of the high value attached to masculine presence and firearms prowess in police departments, women often do not gravitate to macho assignments in special operations teams and firearms units.

Research data have, however, provided clear evidence that women are effective and capable police officers, in spite of the masculine culture, emphasis on physical presence, or assignments to special teams. For more than 30 years, researchers have studied the capabilities of women to perform all aspects of police work. Research has consistently provided evidence that women are competent to conduct patrol work; respond to hazardous situations; meet academic, physical, and firearms training requirements; and handle violent confrontations (Grennan 1987; Price 1996; Townsey 1982).

Early policewomen emulated the masculine style and approach of their fellow male officers, but, more recently, they have embraced gender differences as assets. Scholars now acknowledge that men and women develop and use knowledge differently (Belenky et al. 1997). Women find truth through several epistemological positions, the most advanced being constructed knowledge. Using constructed knowledge, women attach greater value to caring relationships and communications than men do, and they consider relationships to interpret their experiences and draw conclusions about truth, knowledge, authority, and personal power. Women use their knowledge to assess and challenge the systems in which they are operating. They exhibit empathy and are able to feel closely connected to other people in spite of large differences.

Police officers who project an imposing physical presence and demeanor may be admirable, but reliance on masculine traits may not always be an advantage. Because women officers often lack the physical size presence of male officers, they learn to rely less on physical force and more on interpersonal and listening skills. By using their skills as women to relate well with others, women are often better at defusing violent confrontations. Thus, they would be less likely to use excessive force (Grennan 1987). Of 54 officers charged with fatally shooting someone while on duty in the past decade, only two were women (Kindy and Kelly 2015).

Police administrators can learn from the traits that female officers often exhibit. Stereotyping of individual officers by gender should be avoided. Female officers can certainly exhibit aggressive and physical behaviors, just as male officers can be effective caring communicators.

Female officers may offer another advantage over male officers when they use less force. The Washington Post reported that male officers are far more likely than female officers to draw citizen complaints about excessive force. These complaints often lead to lengthy litigation and significant victim payouts (Kindy and Kelly 2015).

In 2016, ∼13% of police officers are women and just 7% are in command positions (Horne 2016). When women comprise less than 15% of any workforce, they are likely to be treated as token members of their organizations and, when they number more than 15%, a tipping point is reached where they are able to shape organizational culture (Kanter 1975). Increasing the number and percentage of female officers and executives may not be a guarantee of positive change, but scholars agree that that increased numbers of women as police officers and executives is a step toward mollifying complaints of excessive force (Grennan 1987; Silvestri 2003).

Final Comments

The structure and practices of police agencies, not individual factors, dictate occupational behavior (Kanter 1975). As part of a larger effort to promote diversity in law enforcement, the hiring of more women as police officers and the promotion of female officers into command positions may help to mollify complaints of excessive force, minimize scandals, and reduce violent street encounters (Grennan 1987). Greater diversity of women and other minorities will increase public trust, will reduce incidents and complaints of police force, and will reduce the social and economic costs of these incidents. Expectations should be realistic when assessing departments that are earnestly embracing reforms as it will take years to track measurable change.

Author's Biography

Dr. Ellen Glasser recently completed her doctorate at the University of North Florida where she is an instructor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Dr. Glasser retired from a 24-year career as a Special Agent and Supervisory Special Agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). After she retired, she was elected as the first female president of the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI, the largest professional organization of its kind for federal law enforcement officers. She provides regular local and national commentary on law enforcement issues.