Female cops: Different approach

Women in law enforcement is nothing new.

Some sources indicate Lola Greene Baldwin was the first sworn police officer in the United States, joining the Portland, Ore., police department with arrest authority on April 1, 1908.

Other sources point to Alice Stebbin Wells as the first female police officer with "full duties." She became an official member of the Los Angeles Police Department Sept. 12, 1910.

Before — and after — that, women most often served as "matrons" in jails and prisons.

Glenn County Sheriff Larry Jones said that as far as he can tell, "Anna Hart, a jail matron, was the first female killed in the line of duty in 1916."

He also pointed out that the first female police chief was Penny Harrington in Portland, Ore. She was appointed in 1985.

By the 1980s, more and more women were taking the oath to serve and protect. And today, a growing number of women are assuming leadership rolls in law enforcement.

Case in point: Orland's new police chief is a woman.

Serving in law enforcement for nearly 25 years, Paula Carr has seen attitudes toward female police officers change.

While serving in the Chico Police Department in the mid- to late 1980s, she was the first sworn officer to become pregnant and have a baby.

"They didn't know what to do with me," Carr said. So, thinking she could not serve on the streets while pregnant, she went to work as a dispatcher.

It was challenging, she said, because many times she would take calls and wish she could be the responding officer.

After her daughter — who now attends University of California, Davis — was born, the male officers started calling her "Mom Cop."

Carr said, however, she had an easier time than some other female police officers.

"They knew better," because one female officer already had been subjected to harassment and filed suit against the Chico department.

As Carr reflected on her early days, she most often related the challenges of being a new police officer to men and women.

"You have to prove yourself to earn the trust and respect of other officers, for their safety," she said. "They need to know you're capable of doing your job."

Carr gained respect and trust of other Chico police officers "in a short period," Carr said, when they worked together at the Pioneer Days riot in 1987.

By five years ago, Carr had gained the respect and trust of law enforcement on the state and national levels. Before joining the Orland Police Department she was a deputy chief in the state's law

enforcement arm of the Office of Emergency Services in charge of coordinating all mutual aid in the state. During this period, she also served on national boards.

As she has said, "I never got the job because I was a female. I got the job because I was knowledgeable and capable."

'It wasn't easy'

In California, it took nearly 100 years for a woman to get a top law enforcement spot in California.

In 1998, Virginia Black was elected the first female sheriff in the state. She served Yuba County in that position until her retirement three years ago.

She started working for the Yuba County Sheriff's Office as the first female dispatcher and jail matron in 1975. Two-and-a-half years later, she was the department's first female on patrol duty.

Like Carr, Black de-emphasized the prominence of being a female officer in a male-dominated work force.

She said the press discovered that she was California's first female sheriff and "made a big deal out of it. My response was 'job performance knows no gender.'"

"It wasn't easy," she said about being the first woman to hold the office in the state, "but it wasn't about that gender thing. I just wanted to do my job."

Initially, Black said, "there was some pretty rank stuff. I never reported it. I never complained. I just continued to do my job. Pretty soon, I was accepted by everybody. A lot of officers said they'd rather walk through a door with me" than with some of the male officers.

Black, Carr, Jones and Willows police Chief Bill Spears all agree that women bring something different to policing than their male counterparts. And women have made everyone's job a little easier.

"Women are a tremendous asset," Jones said.

One of those assets is a female officer's ability to diffuse a situation.

"When a woman walks in, men are more likely to change their behavior," Spears said, For example, men often back off in front of a female officer, whereas with a male officer men often feel a need to prove their strength and masculinity.

Spears' first encounter with a woman in law enforcement came during his career in the Marines. He was asked to oversee one of the first female military police officers in the country.

At first reluctant, Spears said she proved herself to be dedicated, smart and excellent at her job. He proudly noted that the same rookie officer later became a sheriff in North Carolina.

Police Officer Kelly Meek, who works the Willows streets, said, "Women have a different approach to things. We have different strengths and weaknesses than a male officer."

Women officers, for example, are more likely to try to talk their way through a difficult situation than to use force.

"Women are very intelligent and have good overall communication skills and good diplomacy skills," Jones said. "They are especially good at working with women victims."

While men are physically stronger, Meek said "there are other ways to overcome that. You have to be on your toes and ready for any situation. Communication skills help as well."

She and others said one advantage of being a female police officer is when it comes to "dealing with young females in sexual assaults and with kids. They'll open up to you more as a female."

Spears noted that women are seen as more nurturing, so victims are more likely to share details with them. That makes completing reports and putting together solid cases easier, he indicated.

Victims "calm down more with a female than with a male," Meek said. "Sometimes men are being belligerent," but when a female officer enters the room their attitudes change.

"Sometimes they even apologize for swearing in front of a woman," she said.

Black remembered a going "on calls where there were guys threatening to kick an officer's backside," but when a woman officer walked in they felt less threatened and calmed down.

With a reputation as being "tough but fair," Black did not have to use force very often, she said.

In general, Meek said she thinks "having females in law enforcement brings a different set of thoughts into a situation and a different set of ideas into the department. It's always good to have another set of ways to think about things."

Retired Orland police Chief Bob Pasero also supports women in law enforcement. He has worked alongside them on the streets and had them on the force while he was in charge.

"Women have been in law enforcement in this country for over a century. Women have proven themselves. There are fewer than 20 women chiefs of police California. I am proud of the fact that Orland is one of those cities. It says a lot about our community as a whole," Pasero said.

He also noted that his grandmother was appointed as a special deputy sheriff in Shasta County 55 years ago.

Jones said he doesn't see female officers any different the men under his command.

"I see a badge and a willingness to lay their life on the line," he said.

Contact Lydia Harris at 934-6800 or lharris@tcnpress.com.