In order to monitor the growth of women in law enforcement, the National Center for Women & Policing has completed its second annual study on the Status of Women in the largest law enforcement agencies in the country. The number of law enforcement agencies reporting in 1998 is significantly larger than in 1997 (a 66% increase in sample size) allowing for an even more comprehensive analysis of women's status in police ranks nationwide. This report examines the gains and gaps in the numbers of women in policing, and provides a picture of where women are in policing today. The report also presents the major barriers preventing women from increasing their numbers in law enforcement and lists the detrimental effects of the continued under-representation of women in police departments.

Since its inception in early 1995, the National Center for Women & Policing has been a leading force behind increasing the numbers of women in policing. The positive impact of women in policing, including the reduction of police brutality, the increased efficacy in police response to domestic violence, and the increased emphasis on conflict resolution over force, mandates that we strive for gender balance in policing.

Yet, our research shows that the increase of women in law enforcement remains stuck at an alarmingly slow rate. Women comprise only 13.8% of all sworn law enforcement positions nationwide-a paltry increase of one-half of one percent from 1997 and only 3.2 percentage points from 1990 when women made up 10.6% of officers. Moreover, as the number and percentage of law enforcement agencies reporting increased in this year's study, the percentage of agencies reporting no women in Top Command has increased from 20% to over 30% of all agencies.

The data are clear: at the present rate of growth, women cannot achieve equality in law enforcement agencies. Furthermore, the study shows that there has been progress only when women law enforcement officers and women's organizations have taken legal action to fight the discriminatory hiring and promotion practices and when court ordered consent decrees have forced agencies to increase the numbers of women or minorities hired and promoted.

• Among the largest law enforcement agencies in the country in 1998, women comprise only 13.8% of all sworn law enforcement positions; women of color hold 6.0%.
• In the last eight years, women have increased their representation in sworn law enforcement ranks by only 3.2 percentage points, from 10.6% in 1990 to 13.8% in 1998.
• The gains for women in policing are so slow that, at the current rate of growth, women will never reach equal representation or gender balance in law enforcement agencies.
• Women currently hold only 7.5% of Top Command law enforcement positions, 9.6% of Supervisory positions, and 14.7% of Line Operation positions. Women of color hold 1.9% of Top Command law enforcement positions, 3.1% of Supervisory positions, and 6.7% of Line Operations positions.
• Eight out of ten municipal police agencies with the largest percentage of sworn women officers are currently under, or have been under, consent decrees to hire women or minorities. Similarly, among municipal police agencies with the highest percentage increase in sworn women officers since 1990, eight out of ten are under, or have been under, consent decrees to hire women or minorities. In contrast, none of the ten municipal police agencies with the lowest percentage of sworn women officers in 1998 report having been under a consent decree. This demonstrates that nearly all of the largest gains for women in policing have been achieved only as a result of lawsuits initiated by women in law enforcement and women's organizations to force agencies to hire more women or minorities.
• More than 30% of agencies report no women in Top Command law enforcement positions and over 70% of agencies have no women of color in the highest ranks.
• Women continue to hold a majority (62.9%) of lower-paid civilian law enforcement positions. Women of color hold 28.9% of the lower-paid civilian positions.
• State agencies trail by a wide margin municipal and county agencies in hiring and promoting women. Specifically, state agencies report 6.5% sworn women law enforcement officers, less than half that of municipal agencies reporting 15.5% and county agencies at 14.8%. Eight out of the ten agencies with the lowest percentage of sworn women officers are state agencies. Women comprise less than 4% of the total sworn officers among these state law enforcement agencies.
• As the percentage of all law enforcement agencies reporting has increased, the number and percentage of agencies with no women in top command has increased. Over 30% of law enforcement agencies reported having no women in top command, a 50% increase from the 20% reporting no women in top command positions last year.
• 61.4% of agencies surveyed reported that they give preference to candidates who are veterans or have previous military experience. Such policies reinforce barriers to women in policing by favoring a background disproportionately represented by men. As of 1997 women comprise only 13.7% of active duty military personnel, a strikingly similar number to the percentage of women in policing.

Study after study concludes that the single largest barrier to increasing the numbers of women in policing is the attitudes and behavior of their male colleagues. Nationwide studies consistently find that discrimination and sexual harassment are pervasive in police departments and that supervisors and commanders not only tolerate such practices by others, but also are frequently perpetrators themselves. Hostile environments and systemic discrimination keep women from joining police agencies in more significant numbers and from promoting up the ranks to policy-making positions, thus perpetuating a style of policing which is outdated, ineffective, and enormously costly to communities.

BIASED ENTRY TESTS.

• Entry exams with their emphasis on upper body strength favor men and wash out women -- despite studies showing physical prowess to be unrelated to job performance. In fact, no research has shown that strength is related to an individual's ability to manage successfully a dangerous situation. While discriminatory height requirements were finally discarded in the early 1970's, today's tests that over-emphasize upper body strength continue to bar highly qualified women from entering policing.

• Once on the job women are frequently intimidated, harassed, and maliciously thwarted, especially as they move up the ranks. In Los Angeles, male officers formed a clandestine organization within the LAPD called "Men Against Women" whose purpose is to wage an orchestrated campaign of ritual harassment, intimidation and criminal activity against women officers -- just one example of the kind of organized harassment women experience in law enforcement. A large number of women across the country have been driven from their jobs in law enforcement due to unpunished, unchecked and unrelenting abuse.

• Law enforcement agencies continue to heavily recruit ex-military and at military bases that are disproportionately populated by men. Recruitment departments have not adequately intensified their efforts to attract qualified women candidates or to portray policing as a profession that welcomes women.

• Law enforcement agencies continue to promote an outdated model of policing by rewarding tough, aggressive even violent behavior. This "paramilitary" style of policing results in poor community relations, increased citizen complaints, and more violent confrontations and deaths. Redefining law enforcement to a community-oriented model of policing would attract more women who reject policing's trademark aggressive, authoritarian image.

• National and international research shows conclusively that increasing the numbers of women on police departments measurably reduces police violence and improves police effectiveness and service to communities. The studies also show that women officers respond more effectively than their male counterparts to violence against women, which accounts for up to 50% of all calls to police. Yet this record stands in stark contrast to women's dramatic under-representation in police departments where they make up 13.8% of sworn officers nationwide.

• Study after study shows that women officers are not as likely as their male counterparts to be involved in the use of excessive force. As a result, the under-representation of women in policing is contributing to and exacerbating law enforcement's excessive force problems. The actual and potential liability for cities and states is staggering, with lawsuits due to excessive force by male law enforcement personnel costing millions of dollars of taxpayer money every year.

• Domestic violence is the single major cause of injury to women and yet the majority of these violent crimes against women go unreported and uninvestigated by law enforcement agencies. At the same time, law enforcement officers who commit domestic abuse are routinely ignored or exonerated, often leading to tragic results. With studies showing that as many as 40% of male law enforcement officers commit domestic abuse, more women law enforcement officers can serve as a strong force to promote a more effective response by agencies to domestic violence cases that occur both within police departments and community-wide.

• Women favor a community-oriented approach to policing which is rooted in strong interpersonal and communication skills and which emphasizes conflict resolution over force. Women tend to rely on their verbal skills over employing the use of force. With greater numbers of women, this highly effective model of policing will increasingly improve the public image of law enforcement agencies as well as have a positive impact on police-community relations nationwide.

• Law enforcement agencies have tolerated workplace environments that are openly hostile and discriminatory towards female employees, forcing women to bring successful lawsuits against their agencies. The ongoing serious under-representation of women in policing leads to greater numbers of incidents of sexual harassment and discrimination. Increasing the number of women, treating women equally on the job and holding women to fair hiring and promotion practices will reduce the enormous costs resulting from widespread lawsuits.

Over the last 27 years, women have increased their representation in sworn law enforcement positions to 13.8% in 1998, from a low of 2% in 1972. This 11.8 point percentage gain has been spread over the intervening years, averaging an annual rate of less than one-half of 1 percentage point per year. In 1978, women in the largest municipal agencies commanded 4.2% of the sworn law enforcement positions, up 2.2 points from 1972. Nearly ten years later, in 1988, that number had barely doubled to 8.8%, and it was not until 1990 that police agencies on average had reached a major benchmark, crossing into the double digits.

In 1998, the rate of increase remains glacial. From 1997 to 1998 women have increased their representation in policing from 13.3% to 13.8%, a mere gain of one-half of 1 percentage point. With very few exceptions, women remain underrepresented at every level of sworn law enforcement and are essentially absent from the decision-making ranks and positions of authority. Data from 1990 to 1998 demonstrate only a slight 3.2 percentage point increase (See Graph 1).

Graph 1

Although women hold only 13.8% of the sworn law enforcement positions in agencies surveyed, they continue to hold the majority of lower-paid civilian jobs (See Graph 2).

Graph 2

Women comprise 50.2% of Management positions within civilian personnel, 54.1% of Supervisory positions, and 66.2% of Support Staff positions (See Graph 3).

 Not surprisingly, women's gains are concentrated in the lowest tier of sworn law enforcement positions. Women hold 14.7% of Line Operation positions. Their numbers rapidly decrease in the higher ranks. For example, women hold 9.6% of Supervisory posts and only 7.5% of Top Command positions (See Graph 4).

Only eight law enforcement agencies report more than 20% women in Top Command, including Dayton Police, Travis County Sheriff, Pittsburgh Police, King County Department of Public Safety, Atlanta Police, Suffolk County Sheriff, Cook County Sheriff and Cambridge Police (See Table 1). Over 30% of agencies surveyed reported having no women in Top Command and approximately 70% reported having no women of color in Top Command.

In the majority of agencies, women of color in sworn law enforcement positions are vastly underrepresented. While women overall hold 13.8% of sworn law enforcement positions, women of color hold 6.0% of these jobs. Moreover, women of color are virtually absent from the highest ranks, holding a token 1.9% of the most coveted Top Command positions in law enforcement. In contrast, women of color hold 28.9% of the lower-paid civilian jobs (See Graph 5). Only one agency, Washington DC Metropolitan Police reported having at least 20% women of color in their sworn law enforcement ranks (See Table 2).

Source: NCWP Report, 1998. ______________________________________________________________________________________

Comparisons between state and local law enforcement agencies also reveal sharp differences for women in policing. While municipal and county agencies tally more than 15.5% and 14.8% sworn women law enforcement officers, respectively, state agencies lag with an average of 6.5% (See Graph 6). Municipal agencies comprise the majority of those agencies having the largest percentage of sworn women officers, while eight of the ten agencies with the lowest percentage of sworn women law enforcement officers are state agencies (See Table 3 and 4). Women comprise less than 4% of the total sworn officers among these state law enforcement agencies.

Graph 6

 Upon closer examination, one factor emerges as the primary cause for the higher percentages of women in the ranks of municipal police forces: eight of the top ten municipal agencies reporting the largest percentage of sworn women officers in 1998 are under or have been under consent decrees, requiring these agencies to hire women or minorities as a result of lawsuits originated by women officers and women's organizations (See Table 5). Moreover, since 1990 eight of the ten municipal agencies with the highest percentage increase in sworn women officers are under or have been under a consent decree to hire more women or minorities (See Table 6). Again, this reinforces the continued necessity of the legal system as a vehicle to win gender balance in law enforcement.

Eight of the ten municipal agencies with the largest percentage of sworn women officers report having over 20% female officers. By contrast, only four of the top ten county agencies report having over 20% women sworn officers (See Table 7), and no state agency reported having over 14% women sworn officers (See Table 8).

Overall, women have made gains over the past 27 years but continue to increase in numbers at an alarmingly slow rate. Until law enforcement agencies enact policies and practices designed to recruit, retain and promote women, gender balance in policing will remain a distant reality.

This study was conducted from July 1998 to January 1999. An initial mailing of a survey questionnaire was conducted in July 1998. Three hundred agencies representing the largest agencies in the country were surveyed; 176 responded with information. Additional information was collected by the National Center for Women & Policing staff through phone interviews with each department in the study. Comparison data for years 1990 and 1993 was obtained from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The study includes 97 municipal agencies, 53 county departments and 26 state agencies. The size of the agencies included in the survey range from a high of 32,991 sworn officers to a low of 24. The mean is 1328.67 and the median is 620.5. It should be noted that the Los Angeles Police Department refused to provide information for the 1998 report after repeated written and telephone requests. For a complete ranking of all 176 police agencies from the highest to lowest percentage of sworn women law enforcement officers, see Table 9.

	Agencies	ST	Total Sworn Officers	Total Sworn Women Officers	% Sworn Women Officers	% Sworn Women in Top Command	% Sworn Women Supervisory	% Sworn Women Line Operations	% Sworn Women of Color
1	Madison Police	WI	360	107	29.7%	9.1%	19.2%	32.3%	3.1%
2	Cook County Sheriff	IL	5556	1457	26.2%	22.2%	22.7%	26.6%	16.9%
3	Pittsburgh Police	PA	1107	275	24.8%	30.0%	26.5%	24.5%	10.4%
4	Washington Metro Police	DC	3476	856	24.6%	15.4%	22.8%	25.2%	22.5%
5	Philadelphia Police	PA	6900	1641	23.8%	6.8%	9.8%	26.4%	15.6%
6	Detroit Police	MI	3965	928	23.4%	19.0%	23.9%	23.4%	18.2%
7	Caddo Parish Sheriff	LA	399	90	22.6%	9.1%	18.2%	23.9%	12.3%
8	Bexar County Sheriff	TX	1296	281	21.7%	5.3%	15.5%	22.6%	9.9%
9	Miami-Dade Police	FL	2983	640	21.5%	16.9%	17.9%	22.6%	12.8%
10	Tallahassee Police	FL	322	67	20.8%	0.0%	23.2%	20.9%	4.3%
11	Toledo Police	OH	691	143	20.7%	11.1%	12.5%	22.9%	8.0%
12	Seminole County Sheriff	FL	425	86	20.2%	15.4%	12.3%	21.9%	7.5%
13	Dane County Sheriff	WI	346	69	19.9%	0.0%	15.8%	20.7%	0.9%
14	Chicago Police	IL	13047	2585	19.8%	4.6%	13.7%	20.6%	9.7%
15	Buffalo Police	NY	934	185	19.8%	4.8%	12.1%	21.9%	7.0%
16	Cincinnati Police	OH	979	187	19.1%	8.7%	11.4%	21.4%	5.5%
17	Omaha Police	NE	677	129	19.1%	14.3%	11.0%	21.1%	2.5%
18	Travis County Sheriff	TX	819	156	19.0%	36.4%	27.7%	17.6%	7.2%
19	Orlando Police	FL	637	119	18.7%	7.1%	19.0%	18.9%	6.1%
20	Santa Barbara County Sheriff	CA	423	79	18.7%	8.3%	13.6%	20.3%	4.5%
21	Montgomery County Police	MD	1014	189	18.6%	6.7%	9.7%	20.2%	3.1%
22	Miami Police	FL	1081	201	18.6%	8.3%	13.1%	20.0%	15.0%
23	Palm Beach County Sheriff	FL	1609	298	18.5%	8.3%	14.2%	19.5%	10.1%
24	San Diego County Sheriff	CA	2013	355	17.6%	12.9%	17.2%	17.8%	6.2%
25	King County Dept. of Public Safety	WA	608	103	16.9%	28.0%	17.5%	16.3%	3.1%
26	Portland Police	OR	1038	175	16.9%	11.1%	16.2%	17.2%	1.4%
27	Arlington County Police	VA	345	58	16.8%	7.7%	25.0%	15.7%	4.3%
28	Memphis Police	TN	1582	265	16.8%	4.8%	16.3%	17.5%	11.9%
29	Little Rock Police	AK	569	95	16.7%	8.3%	6.6%	18.9%	4.7%
30	Manatee County Sheriff	FL	529	87	16.4%	12.5%	8.0%	18.6%	4.5%
31	St. Lucie County Sheriff	FL	347	57	16.4%	10.0%	8.6%	18.3%	6.3%
32	Lansing Police	MI	263	43	16.3%	12.5%	18.4%	16.0%	4.2%
33	Martin County Sheriff	FL	370	60	16.2%	0.0%	11.1%	18.1%	1.4%
34	Tampa Police	FL	916	147	16.0%	18.2%	17.0%	15.9%	5.2%
35	Fort Worth Police	TX	1201	192	16.0%	16.7%	7.7%	17.3%	3.8%
36	Cleveland Police	OH	1830	291	15.9%	5.1%	16.1%	16.1%	8.4%
37	Louisville Police	KY	708	112	15.8%	16.7%	6.1%	17.4%	3.7%
38	Monterey County Sheriff	CA	336	53	15.8%	0.0%	12.0%	16.7%	6.3%
39	Pierce County Sheriff	WA	561	88	15.7%	15.4%	11.1%	16.5%	3.6%
40	Milwaukee Police	WI	2045	315	15.4%	10.8%	8.1%	16.6%	4.6%
41	Kent County	MI	368	56	15.2%	14.3%	8.0%	16.4%	3.0%
	Agencies	ST	Total Sworn Officers	Total Sworn Women Officers	% Sworn Women Officers	% Sworn Women in Top Command	% Sworn Women Supervisory	% Sworn Women Line Operations	% Sworn Women of Color
42	New York City Police	NY	37991	5751	15.1%	4.3%	9.0%	16.6%	8.5%
43	Columbia Police	SC	311	47	15.1%	0.0%	14.3%	15.7%	9.0%
44	Arapohoe County Sheriff	CO	358	54	15.1%	0.0%	6.8%	17.1%	2.2%
45	Indianapolis Police	IN	1008	152	15.1%	7.4%	11.8%	16.4%	4.1%
46	San Francisco Police	CA	2185	325	14.9%	10.8%	13.6%	15.2%	5.8%
47	Minneapolis Police	MN	918	136	14.8%	18.2%	17.7%	13.4%	1.7%
48	Pima County Sheriff	AZ	387	57	14.7%	16.7%	11.1%	15.4%	2.8%
49	Charlotte Police	NC	1442	209	14.5%	11.9%	14.0%	14.6%	3.3%
50	Harris County Sheriff	TX	2541	368	14.5%	12.9%	8.6%	15.1%	5.9%
51	Tulsa Police	OK	785	113	14.4%	8.6%	2.6%	16.0%	3.4%
52	San Diego Police	CA	2046	293	14.3%	16.0%	12.4%	37.1%	3.6%
53	Baltimore Police	MD	3091	442	14.3%	8.7%	7.9%	15.6%	9.8%
54	Atlanta Police	GA	1444	205	14.2%	26.1%	N/A	N/A	N/A
55	Los Angeles County Sheriff	CA	8163	1156	14.2%	9.9%	10.9%	14.8%	7.1%
56	Seattle Police	WA	1199	169	14.1%	19.0%	10.3%	14.7%	2.5%
57	Jefferson County Sheriff	AL	492	69	14.0%	8.3%	14.9%	14.0%	7.3%
58	Arlington Police	TX	478	67	14.0%	0.0%	7.1%	15.8%	4.2%
59	Suffolk County Sheriff	NY	829	115	13.9%	23.1%	12.0%	14.0%	1.3%
60	Savannah Police	GA	398	55	13.8%	18.2%	7.6%	15.0%	6.5%
61	Orange County Sheriff	FL	1117	154	13.8%	10.0%	12.9%	14.1%	2.1%
62	Wisconsin State Patrol	WI	501	69	13.8%	8.3%	16.4%	13.5%	1.2%
63	Pompano Beach Police	FL	248	34	13.7%	0.0%	8.3%	14.9%	2.4%
64	St. Paul Police	MN	575	78	13.6%	14.3%	9.8%	15.1%	1.2%
65	Cambridge Police	MA	254	34	13.4%	22.2%	2.2%	15.6%	5.9%
66	Dayton Police	OH	513	68	13.3%	37.5%	8.2%	14.0%	2.1%
67	Columbus Police	OH	1731	229	13.2%	4.3%	7.9%	14.3%	3.6%
68	Macon Police	GA	266	35	13.2%	7.1%	13.1%	13.6%	5.6%
69	Baton Rouge Police	LA	601	79	13.1%	3.8%	20.5%	10.6%	4.3%
70	St. Louis Metro. Police Dept.	MO	1597	209	13.1%	8.3%	5.3%	14.9%	5.1%
71	Colorado Springs Police	CO	529	69	13.0%	0.0%	7.6%	14.3%	1.7%
72	Baltimore County Police	MD	1635	213	13.0%	8.1%	5.5%	14.3%	1.8%
73	St. Petersburg Police	FL	510	66	12.9%	11.1%	15.3%	12.7%	3.5%
74	Ventura County Sheriff	CA	742	96	12.9%	6.1%	5.1%	14.8%	3.5%
75	Jefferson County Police	KY	450	57	12.7%	11.8%	6.9%	13.9%	4.0%
76	Alameda County Sheriff	CA	807	102	12.6%	14.3%	11.8%	12.8%	5.1%
77	Greensboro Police	NC	451	57	12.6%	5.6%	13.3%	12.8%	2.7%
78	Durham Police	NC	372	47	12.6%	16.7%	8.7%	13.0%	5.6%
79	Michigan State Police	MI	2087	262	12.6%	7.7%	9.6%	13.6%	1.0%
80	Tacoma Police	WA	394	49	12.4%	5.3%	7.0%	13.8%	N/A
81	Contra Costa County Sheriff	CA	630	78	12.4%	11.1%	7.6%	13.5%	3.8%
82	Sarasota Police Department	FL	189	23	12.2%	0.0%	14.7%	12.2%	2.6%
83	Richmond City Police	VA	708	86	12.1%	11.8%	13.9%	11.8%	5.9%
84	Knoxville Police	TN	370	44	11.9%	0.0%	14.1%	11.7%	1.1%
85	Houston Police	TX	5460	649	11.9%	4.3%	7.8%	13.1%	6.0%
86	Winston-Salem Police	NC	440	52	11.8%	16.7%	14.1%	11.2%	2.5%
87	Oakland County Sheriffs	MI	633	73	11.5%	0.0%	3.3%	13.1%	2.7%
	Agencies	ST	Total Sworn Officers	Total Sworn Women Officers	% Sworn Women Officers	% Sworn Women in Top Command	% Sworn Women Supervisory	% Sworn Women Line Operations	% Sworn Women of Color
88	Columbus Police	GA	389	44	11.3%	0.0%	7.7%	12.8%	5.4%
89	Oklahoma City Police	OK	977	110	11.3%	8.6%	11.6%	10.2%	2.1%
90	Bridgeport Police	CT	419	47	11.2%	0.0%	8.6%	12.3%	7.2%
91	Albuquerque Police	NM	893	100	11.2%	16.7%	10.6%	11.2%	4.8%
92	Riverside County Sheriff	CA	1165	130	11.2%	10.3%	4.9%	12.6%	2.4%
93	Virginia Beach Police	VA	696	77	11.1%	7.1%	5.4%	12.0%	1.1%
94	Denver Police	CO	1377	150	10.9%	9.7%	11.4%	10.8%	4.4%
95	Yonkers Police	NY	560	61	10.9%	0.0%	4.2%	12.8%	2.1%
96