FOCUS ON EQUALITY A WOMAN’S PLACE IS O


n August 12 1920 the Committee on the Employment of Women on Police Duties (also known as the


Baird Committee) published a White Paper recommending that women be formally employed by the police. During the First World War, women


had, as in many other industries, taken over the role of men who had been called up to fight, forming voluntary patrols that enforced orderly behaviour in parks, railway stations and other public spaces. The first female police officer with power


of arrest was Constable Edith Smith, sworn in at Grantham, Lincolnshire in December 1915. It was controversial at the time, as women were not ‘full persons’ in law – it would take a further Act of Parliament to change that. Women officers had very different


roles to their male counterparts. They were mainly concerned with enforcing public decency, and the Baird Committee strongly recommended that they should not be required to perform duties which involve physical force.


Joan Tildesley, who became a West


Midlands police officer in the 1970s, recalled: “Throughout all of my service I was probably one of the only female officers on the shift. I just got on with it and had a great time – I wasn’t frightened of getting physically stuck in because I’d grown up with boys, and I think that helped me prove myself. Even then, I was often given ‘women’s jobs’ to do, for example, looking after babies, watching a prisoner, manning the front office.”


This attitude of keeping women out of


harm’s way, was still in place in the 1980s when Joan returned after the birth of her daughter. “I really had a difficult time,” she


explained. “They believed I should be at home, being a mother, and I would be deliberately be sent to jobs that would keep me detained on duty. People kept asking me how I was going to manage, never mind that my husband was a police officer too. Nobody ever asked him that. It was very aggressive and alienating. However, I refused to be intimidated and eventually the people making my life hard would run out of steam.” Women were welcomed into the Police


Jan Berry, PFEW’s first female Chair


Jan served as chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales from 2002 to 2008. She started her policing career in


1971, quickly realising that female officers were treated differently. “We didn’t work nights and it was thought we needed longer rest breaks to recover – there was quite a bit of sexist banter,” said Jan. “When I was expecting my first child, my boss told me I’d put my career back five years, and nobody said congratulations!” Jan became a Police Federation


rep to change the way women officers were treated. She became Kent Federation Chair and later joined the Joint Central Committee (forerunner of today’s National Board), before serving as Deputy National Chair to Fred Broughton. One of her highlights as National


IN THE THIN BLUE LINE Olivia Watkinson reflects on PFEW’s work on equality and representation by looking at 100 years of women in policing


Federation in 1948, and in the 1960s the Federation introduced the concept of the Women’s Reserve, which ensured a seat on each board would be held by a female. This policy has meant that there is, in the words of PFEW’s present-day Equality Lead Peggy Lamont, a culture of “women supporting women”. In fact, as of 2020, there are more female board members in the Federation than there have ever been. Peggy’s priorities include making sure that uniforms and equipment are practical and comfortable for female officers, to provision for officers going through the menopause. She said: “There is often a perception that the issues women face, have been ‘solved’, and that the focus should now move elsewhere. But in some sense attitudes haven’t changed – women must still choose between having a baby and having a career. At PFEW we’re trying to make sure those problems are still a focus for senior leadership.”


Zoe Wakefield, the newly elected Chair


of Hampshire Police Federation, is the first woman to hold the post. She is sorry to see the Women’s Reserve seats disappear. “Since they went, we lost some of the female reps and the networking opportunities,” she commented. “We must establish networks for under-represented groups that allow people from protected characteristics to form and maintain relationships that help each other. I think the Federation can do more.” What would Joan Tildesley tell a young


woman joining the police today? “Don’t be afraid to be forthright – a problem shared is a problem halved and you don’t have to go through things alone. Discriminatory behaviour is unacceptable, and we must speak out about it. In the end, it’s a great job and we can’t let bad attitudes ruin it.”


Chair was leading 30,000 officers in a march on Westminster over police pay, in January 2008.


She said: “My main challenge as PFEW Chair was to keep the three central committees and 43 Branch Boards together – the way to do that was through listening and responding and not trying to power my way through. Maybe being a woman helped me in that.”


OCTOBER 2020 | POLICE | 33


Joan in her uniform days


Joan Tildesley


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