Original Female Police Members

Photograph of Laurence Harris & Minnie Miller - 1st female police officers in the Vancouver Police Department

Photograph of Laurency Harris & Minnie Miller – 1st female police officers in the Vancouver Police Department (Source of photo – Vancouver Police Museum)

In 1912, police departments in North America realized a need for female police officers:

  • In 1912, the Vancouver City Police hired their first two female police offices in Canada – Laurency Harris and Minnie Miller; and
  • In the same year, San Antonio Texas advertised for women police members as outlined in the newspaper advertisement below:
November 7, 1912 - Extraction from the Carlstadt News (page 7)

November 7, 1912 – Extraction from the Carlstadt News (page 7)

These two examples provide a good reminder of the debt all female police officers today owe female activists groups of the past.

‘Police Women Of Dallas’: A Female Officer Shares Her Survival Secrets – Can you be tough without giving up your human side? Find out what it’s like to be a female police officer on the streets of Dallas. Plus: the unexpected gifts that such a demanding job gives.

“The first female police officer in Santa Cruz may have been stuck with a wool skirt in the 1940′ but at least she had a gun.”  Check out her story and see the video

For  more information about female police officers in the Vancouver Police Department, I encourage you to visit their website – www.vancouverpolicemuseum.ca

3-17-2013 11-23-15 AM

Police force recalls days when female officers were ‘of no advantage’ – 

They take an active part in every aspect of modern policing, from walking the beat to leading forces and co-ordinating international affairs.

But the attitude towards women in our police forces was not always so inclusive, with a former Welsh chief constable once claiming he was “unable to subscribe to the opinion expressed that their employment would be any advantage”.  Read more

These videos provide a view of the not too distant past to remind us the rights women enjoy today were won by great Canadian Women activists. Salute to Nellie McClelland, Agnuse MacPhaail and Irene Parlby.”

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