POLICE HISTORY


Women in policing: A proud history


T From a group of volunteers 108 years ago to a


he Women’s Police Service was founded in 1914. Staffed by volunteers, it marked the start of


a time of pivotal change for UK policing against the backdrop of the turmoil of World War I. In August 1915, Edith Smith was appointed the first woman police constable in England with full power of arrest. She walked her beat in Lincolnshire and was paid a salary of 28 shillings per week.


In 1916, a Daily Express reporter asked a Scotland Yard official if there was any


22 | POLICE | FEBRUARY 2022


47,000-strong powerhouse of incredible officers, women have come a long way across all UK police forces


possibility of women being employed as police constables in London. The response was: “No, not even if the war lasts 50 years.” By 1918, many were still against the idea of female officers. That year, Gladys Wiles, a writer and campaigner with Police Review, wrote an article to illustrate the barriers women had to break through to be accepted. She had campaigned for women to be allowed to become police officers, despite her father’s strong views.


Edith Smith


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