Today’s Topic

The Los Angeles Police Department has come a long way since Alice Stebbins Wells became the first woman to join its force in 1910.

Of course, if Wells was looking for guns and glory by signing on with the department, she got none. Instead, she was assigned to enforce the laws at dance halls, skating rinks, penny arcades and picture shows, according to the Los Angeles Police Historical Society.

It took generations, and a historic lawsuit filed in the mid-’70s by Sgt. Fanchon Blake, to finally give women in the LAPD equal opportunities. Even now, however, some women on the force say they are still fighting the battle for acceptance.

But, there are 11,070 women in the LAPD, about 15% of the department, and the numbers keep growing. In today’s Platform, some women who aspire to be officers talk about why they are attracted to police work and why it is important to have more women on the force.

According to applicant Rochelle Quinn of Rancho Cucamonga, women have to be a little more personable than men when doing police work. Women “bring different ideas to the police force on how to handle things,” she asserts.

Not everyone agrees. “I have had the opportunity throughout my career to work with male officers every bit as sensitive as I was,” says Capt. Margaret York, the highest ranking woman in the LAPD.

York believes that being a police officer is an ideal career for a woman and says “the opportunities have never been better for women.”

Despite those opportunities, women still have barriers to knock down. “There certainly is a hostility to their presence and it is positively shocking to see this taking place,” says Toni Carabillo, chapter adviser for the National Organization for Women. “Men seem to regard women as an intrusion into their turf.”

Lt. John Dunkin, an LAPD spokesman, disagrees. “I think that’s not accurate. There is a place for women in policing and there’s a place for men.

“The community has the right to expect that the Police Department is going to reflect the community at large,” he says. “That’s not just whites or blacks or Hispanics or Asians. It’s women as well.”

It’s not, however, always easy to attain parity, as Nina Damianakes found out when she tried to join the elite SWAT unit.

“The men in SWAT believe they’re special, that not everyone can do what they do,” she says. “So, if you have a woman as a SWAT officer that would just be horrible for them, because that would mean a woman could do their job.”

Damianakes won her fight last month to join the SWAT team but has not decided whether she will. Since forcing the issue, Damianakes says both she and her husband, Mike, a 25-year LAPD veteran, have been ostracized by their peers. But she loves police work and offers women officers some advice.

“It is important to have the respect of your peers and not to depend on men,” Damianakes says. “If you want to be treated like an equal, you have to act like an equal. It’s easy for men to treat you like a sister or daughter. Don’t let them do your work for you.”