Collier's - December 18, 1915
BLANCHE PAYSON - THE HANDSOMEST WOMAN COP IN AMERICA
San Franciscans say that Miss Blanche Payson, special policewoman in the Zone at the Panama-Pacific Exposition all summer and fall, is the handsomest cop in the country, and our photograph of her, reproduced at left, seems to verify the assertion. But good looks are not Miss Payson's only distinctive characteristic. She has proved herself to be an exceptionally capable all-around cop. Nobody has ever called her a copette. That word would be a misfit, because she is six feet four, weighs two hundred and four pounds, and has the strength of a trained athlete. Protecting girls from mashers was one of her specialties during the exposition, and many offenders whom she arrested complained that she handled them too roughly. Miss Payson was employed as a special policewoman by the Palace Hotel, one of the big downtown hostelries, to assist women guests across the street, and she worked on the job just eight minutes before the management paid her to break the contract. She attracted a crowd that congested sidewalk traffic so that guests could hardly get in or out of the hotel. She hopes to become a regular member of the San Francisco police force this winter.
