Who Was The First Policewoman?

The first policewoman known to history was named Alice Stebbins Wells and she served with the Los Angeles, California Police Department. Since 1891, law enforcement agencies had employed women only for the care of female prisoners. Mrs. Lucy Gray became the first Los Angeles Police Matron in 1888, voluntarily established her living quarters within the City Jail. After Wells successfully petitioned for a place on the LAPD and was sworn in, as the first woman police officer with arrest powers, on September 12, 1910, she was hired and equipped with a telephone call box key, a police rule book and first aid book, and Los Angeles Police badge #398, full police powers, but not a gun. When Wells showed her badge #398 for a free trolley car ride, the conductor accused her of misusing her husband’s identity. The police department remedied this by presenting her with “Policewoman’s Badge Number One”. Wells was responsible for hand sewing her own police uniform, which was the first police woman's uniform in the United States. It was a floor-length dress and jacket.

Due to Wells's advocacy for women's and children's rights, more women were recruited after the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 to undertake community policing assignments. This is due in part because policewomen were thought to be better at defusing potentially violent situations than policemen.

Wells's had wanted to become a police officer because she wanted the police department to better serve women and children who were victimized by criminals. Four years later, the first policewoman in Great Britain made her debut. I hope you like this latest blog post. tell me what you think in the comment section below.

-She was married and a mother of two.

-Sworn in as an officer – 1910 -Sergeant – 1934