Women in Policing: A History Through Personal Stories

Although there is still work to do, especially in senior ranks and the later stages of service, today’s police workforce is the most gender balanced it has been in its history. However, getting to this stage has taken often significant personal struggle on the part of every female officer who has gone before. This book examines the personal stories of just some of those key influential pioneering female officers, as examples of the different time periods in which they served, as well as some of the impact they had on the landscape of policing at the time and since. Compiled by leading historians in this field, this book tells their stories.

This is an anthology compiled by a field of leading police historians, who are all members of the Police History Society. It is edited by Tom Andrews, the editor of the Journal of the Police History Society. Other contributors include: Joan Lock, author of The British Policewoman: Her Story which is regarded as a current leading work in the historiography of women in policing; Clifford Williams who has a doctorate in history and specialises is the area of LGBTQ+ history, as well as that of the policing of Hampshire; David Smale, a leading light on Scottish policing history; Anthony Rae; Mark Rothwell; Derek Oakensen; Edward Smith; and Kate Halpin.