Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology - January-February 1946

Expanding Role of Policewomen
An important contribution to the literature in the field of crime prevention has just been released jointly by the Federal Security Agency, the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Sheriffs' Association, in the form of a 92 page manual, entitled Techniques of Law Enforcement in the Use of Policewomen with Special Reference to Social Protection. The manual was designed for the use of policewomen in the performance of their preventive-protective functions, and for the assistance of law enforcement administrators in the selection, assignment and most effective use of women police officers. It was compiled by the National Advisory Police Committee on Social Protection of the Federal Security Agency, embracing representatives from the organizations named above.

In two previous manuals approved by the National Advisory Police Committee, Techniques of Law Enforcement Against Prostitution, and Techniques of Law Enforcement in the Treatment of Juveniles and the Prevention of Juvenile Delinquency, emphasis was placed on the value of trained policewomen in both fields. During the war period many police departments added policewomen to their staffs, and there is a great demand for more. Few trained women are available to meet this demand. As a result it has been necessary to recruit untrained and inexperienced policewomen in many communities. Unfortunately schools for training new recruits are so few and so scattered that it is impossible for them to meet increasing current needs.

There is reason to believe that there will be an increase rather than a decrease in law enforcement problems during the difficult years of postwar readjustment, and hence the need for effective crime prevention programs on the part of the police will be greater than ever. In the last analysis, crime prevention is a community responsibility. No community plan to prevent crime and delinquency can be truly effective that overlooks the role of the law enforcement juvenile officer.

The primary purpose of this manual is to serve as an in-service training text in helping the newly appointed policewoman to learn her job; to give her practical suggestions for dealing with the child, the girl or the woman who is in difficulty either as an offender or as a victim of an offense; to show how she can most effectively participate in police and community programs to prevent delinquency and crime; and to stimulate her to undertake further self-education through reading and study suggested in the bibliography. It is also hoped that this manual may be useful to law enforcement executives in bringing to their attention the potential services of policewomen in helping to solve these urgent local problems. Copies of this publication may be obtained free of charge by addressing Mr. Thomas Devine, Director, Social Protection Division, Community War Services, Federal Security Agency, Washington, D.C. -- Editor.