Women as Police Chiefs Essay Example

Women as Police Chiefs Essay Police officers are meant to safe guard citizens against the various forms of crimes that take place in today’s society. Today, this role is played by both the women and men as everyone has equal rights in society. The acceptance of women taking carrers as police officials has come a long way. In the olden days, women were regarded as the weaker sex that is, both physically and emotionally while the men were the courageous one who headed their families and protected them from danger. For this reason, there is no way a man could have ever thought a woman was able to fit in their shoes. Perceptions on women in policing People still think that women are not courageous enough to take up such roles. Moreover, people think that women will let their emotions interfere with their work hence they are not suited for the job. Why would women want to become police officers? We will write a custom essay sample on Women as Police Chiefs specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Women as Police Chiefs specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Women as Police Chiefs specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The answers to this question are as varied as the women themselves. Some dreamt of becoming police officers although they do not quiet understand how they got such a non traditional dream, Some have family members and friends in law enforcement and have been encouraged to take up the career, others have seen it as an exiting career as opposed to the traditional women jobs, some want to prove to their male counterparts that what they can do a woman can do and do it better, or as a result of a dare from their colleagues. â€Å"But the one reason that most of them share is that they would like to be able to help other people in society (Schulz, 2004).† Advantages women police chiefs bring to the police force Although policing is one of the few remaining strongholds of male dominance, in greater numbers, women have been challenged them. Males have dominated the most of the law enforcement agency especially in the military. â€Å"Around the 1970s an increasing number of women have took up the battle to invade the hallowed male halls of this bureaucracy (Wells Sowers, 2000)† and have brought a lot of advantages in the police force with it. Some of the positive attributes include: women take their work very seriously and passionately. Just as they would run their own homes, the woman police chief ensures that all the police departments are well coordinated and activities are well supervised and monitored. Through this, the woman police chief ensures that the police operations are on course. Women are good at listening and offering advice. This makes them good counselors as they are able to listen to the views and opinions of their workmates as well as the general public. People can easily approach them and this makes it easier for people to share with them how they feel about the job and what they would like to be improved. â€Å"The women Police chief brings balance in the police force (Wells Sowers, 2000).† People will be assured that more women can get in the force as they will continually fight for the rights of other women especially when they see someone is talented but due to male biasness they are not considered therefore they can rally for them so that they are chosen. The woman police Chief just like any other police chief represents the police departments in public relations matters. They will always want to provide a good image of what they do and this makes them better supervisors and they ensure that they maintain discipline among the employees. The process of becoming a police chief Just as medical students spend many years in school before they become doctors, so is the road to becoming a police chief long and challenging. Women who have become police chiefs are a living example that all things are possible if you put your heart and mind to it. The process usually starts when people are being recruited. When those who have the heart and all that is required, they undergo harsh training conditions to become police officers. Once a police officer, they would like to go to the next level just as humans need to progress, after working as police chiefs and doing a good job at it, they can decide to be detectives if they please or go on to be sergeants. After this, they will move up the ranks to become, Lieutenant, captain, Major, and a then commander. Upon reaching here, they may see that they have come far but since they are so close to the top, they may as well apply for the police chief job. Because they will be elected, women candidates have been forced to confront these dilemmas of style and presentation much earlier in the selection process. â€Å"Candidates’ opponents would have to make sure that to have raised the issue of sex/ gender during the campaign so that employees understand who they will be better sited for the job (29, breaking).† They may be very successful and eventually get the job because they have all the qualifications that are needed. We can therefore say that the path toward Police Chief is very challenging and takes years of hard work. Challenges facing women police chiefs At work The police chiefs deal with dangerous people who may harm them. They may fall victims of attacks in that law offenders who had been caught, imprisoned and released and were planning revenge they could easily harm them if they know their where about. Furthermore, women officers as well as men have been killed in the line of duty. When the people who work for them are harmed or lose their lives, their womanly instincts obviously takes full course and they feel remorseful. Sometimes they get affected psychologically especially when the victims are people they really liked and would have loved to see them accomplish their personal and career goals. This will therefore make them afraid in sending off their staff to very dangerous mission but when they took their oaths of office, they vowed to protect the lives and peoples property hence they have to lead and act as leaders under any circumstances. The police departments have fallen victims of numerous corruption allegations and the police chief, who is the head of all the departments, will be held accountable for the actions of those under her. Excessive use of force by the police has also been another issue that the public usually complain about and certain people have been seriously hurt while others have died in the hands of such police men and women (Silvestri, 2003). There have been cases of discrimination especially in dealing with race and ethical issues such that they tend to blame certain members of a particular race for most of the crimes. When all these internal issues take place, all the accusing fingers will be on the woman police chief if she is in charge and sometimes they have no idea of such occurrences but are left to take the blame for things they did not do. On top of this, â€Å"they will have to deal with incompetent police officers as sometimes during the recruitment process, some people are favored and this is one of the underlying issues that cause most of the internal problems in the police force (Scarborough Collins, 2002).† Discrimination and intimidation â€Å"The society has not full embraced the roles played by women Police and sometimes people look down on them (Natarajan, 2008).† This is evident in their places of work as they have to work twice or more than their male counterparts in such positions so that they get the respect they deserve from their subordinates as well as other officials people whom they usually interact with in the course of their duties. They have to overcome this fear which is not an easy task as sometimes their efforts go unnoticed. Lack of corporation by members of the society is another issue. When the people they fight to protect day and night are stubborn in giving information that the police may find useful, this does not really help them much in fighting crimes as they have to plead with people thus wasting a lot of time. This will make them frustrated and at times feel like the job I dragging them down. Personal They concentrate so much on their work that they can easily neglect other sectors of their lives. For example, if someone has a family, they have to play the mother role as well be a wife. â€Å"Sometimes they get so consumed with their work that they have little time to spend at home and run their families (Brown Campbell, 1994).† The children may start engaging in activities that are not mortally right like taking alcohol, drugs or sexual activities. These are the kind of things the mother deals with which are now in her family. The father might feel that they do not spend a lot of time with the wife and this brings about marital problems. Moreover, they do not have a social life as they spend most of their time solving crimes. Such problems at home may make the chief not to perform at work like they are supposed to. Lack of support from family members and friends sometimes, the husbands of police chiefs may feel intimidated by their wives as they are superior to them and this will also affect their work. This could be that their wives earn more than them or that wherever they go the focus is always on the wife. They therefore do not have mentors or people they can look up to for the support they need especially in dealing with stress at work. Solutions to the woman police chief challenges Families, friends, he public and fellow work mates need to show support to the woman police chief because that will be the only way that they will see that their services are required will do work in peace and enjoy what they are doing. The male officers need to embrace the roles women can play and agree that at times someone of the opposite sex can out do them. This will ensure that discrimination and intimidation will reduce. Moreover, â€Å"they will be respected by the women police chief if the males make an effort to show them respect (Westmarland, 2001).† The internal management strategies in the police departments should be improved so that there will be fewer cases that involve police departments. This will include things like the police men and women not accepting and supporting bribes or illegal practices in society because they would like to gain, not using excessive force on caught victims; they can simply arrest or warn them and not discriminating against any person regardless of their age, sex, color among other things. All this is to say that they must adhere to the ethics in place with regards to their scope of work. The woman police chief can also go for trainings that do not necessarily deal with police matters so that they can know how they can deal with their personal/emotional and psychological feelings that affect their work. By undergoing such trainings, they will be able to control their feelings and not let them affect their work. Through this, they will remain on top of the game and become better and brave leaders. City officials and other law enforcement agencies need to reward and recognize the work the women do in this business. This they can do by giving them awards for the work they do and this gives them morale to carry on with their work. Women police chiefs need to meet regularly so that they can discuss matters that affect women in the police force. This will create a forum where they can share their personal experiences and find solutions to matters that affect them. The future of Police Women Chiefs The future looks brighter because the women police chiefs who are there serve as mentors to other women who want to pursue such careers. Moreover, the community has seen the work they have done; which has turned out to be good or even better than speculated. Many women are now joining the police force and other law enforcement agencies and this means that in future, the ratio of men to women in such departments will be equal. Conclusion As much as we accept the roles men play in society, women can and have become better officers. The obstacles they face as they seek to reach the top of one of the most quintessentially male professional are many and diverse but such problems will not make them stop doing what they love which is the prevention of crime and the protection of both life and property. They need to be continually supported and such careers encouraged in the school systems.

Gender Research Essays

Gender Research Essays Gender Research Essay Gender Research Essay Women and the world they live (d) in: Every society has pre-defined roles for men and women-Men are the bread-winners, the decision makers and the aggressive half whereas women are the procreators, the executors of the man-made decisions and the demure, passive half. The obvious sex difference has translated and now is firmly rooted as the gender difference that manifests itself in the roles that men and women are supposed to play. For a long time women have been confined to homes (sometimes it was a voluntary decision) and they have been expected to bring up children and take care of other social and societal obligations. But as the world evolved and the revolutions ensued women began to look beyond their homes for a life. This, obviously, caused quite a flutter among the puritans who still desperately clung on to the belief that the hand that rocks the cradle should not be paid. Transgressing from the unwritten rules of male female role-play was blasphemy the conservatives cried. But thanks to courageous women like Joa n-of –Arc, who led the French army against the British, women found a new life that led to avenues and careers they never thought existed. Now, a couple of centuries after women first began working there is a general if not grudging acceptance to the idea of working women. Women today are scaling new heights, setting higher goals and are climbing the corporate ladder. The working woman has finally arrived. : What women really want? Most women who venture out to start a new business face three major problems. First they have a difficult time raising capital for their business because most loan providers are skeptical of a woman run business. Second, they have to find a balance between home and work. This is a unique problem for women who run their business (other working women who are employed face this problem to a lesser degree) as it entails being at the helm of affairs (read crises) at work and running a perfect household as well. The third challenge for business owners is to be taken seriously by their peers; on the face of it the issue seems a petty one but then any business owner needs the acceptance from the peer group-it gives them a sense of pride and satisfaction. The lack of such respect could also have a severe damaging effect on the business as the non-acceptance by competitors may translate to consumer wariness towards the product. Women on top: As more and more women began to join the workforce there was a need to do more than just work for somebody. Women started to take risks and start their own ventures. Most such ventures started out very small and most of these women wanted little more than to fulfill their creative potential or meet a basic need. But as time passed by and their businesses flourished they began to move beyond the comfort zone and expand their businesses. These are the women who have made their sisters believe that they too can. One such enterprising woman, touted as the most successful woman in the twentieth century, was the founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics Mary Kay Ash. Embittered by the male-dominated workplace where she was repeatedly denied promotions she launched her own cosmetic store with the help of her son and the rest as they say is history. The company became one of the largest cosmetic products manufacturers ever. Anita Roddick, Madame C.J.Walker, Coco Chanel and Estee Lauder all discovered op portunities in their problems and went on to make a name for themselves in the beauty and fashion business. Debbie Fields made her chocolate chip cookie a national dessert rage when she decided to start selling cookies at age 20 to earn just a little extra. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, the founder of Biocon, also braved all odds to become the most successful (and the richest) woman entrepreneur in India. Their stories are all different but all of these enterprising women have what the Ernst and Young survey called the Top Qualities required to make an effective entrepreneur-resourcefulness, hard work, creativity and risk taking ability. These women recognized disguised opportunities and made the most of them. But more importantly they have shown other women (and men) that their dreams were not impossible. Women in the corporate world: Unlike their counterparts in the entrepreneurship arena the corporate women seldom make it to the top in their offices. The number of women on the board of directors is abysmally low in most companies. However, in recent years, the number of women making it to the elite panel of directors has steadily been on the rise. There were 10 women CEOs in the Fortune 500 companies in Apple, Accenture and Coca-Cola all ushered in female directors on board in the last couple of years. PepsiCo elected Indra Nooyi as the CEO in a landmark move. Brenda Barnes is CEO of Sara Lee; Anne Mulcahy heads Xerox and Janet Robinson leads New York Times. The number of women at the helm of affairs in major companies is testament to the under recognized managerial capability of women. These women too are standing examples for millions of women across the world of what can be achieved. Is gender bias really transgressed? Women face discrimination. It is a statement tacitly agreed upon in office corridors and living rooms alike. They face discrimination right from the entry point to the final destination. Most women complain about being bypassed for jobs simply because the company cites security being a reason for the job on hand-positions that demand graveyard shifts and frequent travel are examples. Once they do land a job the real nightmare begins. A woman has to work twice as hard as she has to overcome the stigma, which proclaims women as inferior workers. Also the incidence of sexual harassment by male colleagues and superiors is alarmingly high (most of them, sadly, go unreported). Women also face a predicament when they are put in-charge. Although she is an authority the woman is more likely to deal with non co-operative male subordinates. The road to the top of an organization for a woman employee or the time at the top for a female entrepreneur is rather tenuous and difficult. Besides all th is Most Women put up a glass ceiling for themselves. They begin to find solace in secure positions at work and opt out of the race in the early stages because they think that they cannot find a balance between the family and professional lives. This fabled glass ceiling needs to be shattered before they blame the opposite sex for coming in their way-they have to believe in their abilities and move forward purposefully.