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History of women in law enforcement featured at Watch

Independent-Messenger - 3/15/2018

One of several speakers at the Neighborhood Watch program at Greensville Ruritan Club was Emporia Police Officer Valerie Rodriquez, a 2008 Army veteran who graduated from the Crater Criminal Justice Academy in 2009. She talked about the history of women in law enforcement.

She received her Bachelor's Degree of Science in 2015. She was an honor grad with a 3.98 GPA, an Alpha Phi Sigma Inductee "Criminal Justice Honor Society" and received the Life Saver Award from the Emporia Police Dept. in 2017 for saving the life of an overdose victim. That victim has overdosed three times and been saved.

Rodriquez had an aneurysm so she had to leave the military and she was a local police officer in 2016 when she had to temporarily return to California.

She has been back with the Emporia Police Dept. since November. Rodriquez inspires to be a detective one day so she is continuing her education. She is the only female patrol officer at the Emporia Police Dept.

She talked about the Spritzer vs. Lang, a case brought to the Supreme Court of New York in 1965 that had significant impact on women in policing. Spritzer was a highly educated woman and former teacher that argued women should be allowed to test in the promotion process.

The Supreme Court sided with her and 126 sworn women were allowed to test. Spritzer and her colleague, Gertrude Schimmel, had the two highest scores and were promoted to sergeants.

She pointed out that in the early 1900s women were known as Police Matrons. They were civilians with no law enforcement powers and their roles were counselors, social workers and teacher. Georgia Ann Robinson volunteer for the LAPD and became the nation's first female officer from 1916-1928.

By the end of World War I there were police women in more than 200 U.S. cities. Up to the late 1960s, early 1970s, women were specialized units. 1767 was the year that women were allowed to be uniformed patrol officers.

In 1985, the first woman ever was appointed police chief of the Portland, Oregon Police Dept.

Women in law enforcement have come a long way, she said, noting that in the 1970s there were less than two percent of women in law enforcement, now its 12-13 percent of the countries law enforcement are women. Rodriquez also talked about the pros and cons of women in law enforcement. Pros, based on her experience, includes rapport with the opposite sex, kids love female officers, and when dealing with hostile situations a female can bring a more nurturing voice and demeanor to the scene, she said. It's also easier for abused children and domestic assault victims to speak to a female officer.

Cons include being smaller in stature which can give an upper hand to a much stronger suspect, the job affects your home life when planning to have children, suspects tend to call female officers "baby" instead of officer, which is a pet peeve of Rodriquez, and the uniforms are uncomfortable.

She encouraged people to call the police if they see anything out of the ordinary or if they witness a crime. You can remain anonymous, she stressed. "We never come knocking on your door."