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Although women in law enforcement has increased within the past 20-30 years, the struggle to be fully accepted and held to the same standard as a male continues, and this is mainly due to barriers such as the attitudes of male officers. Many policemen continue to express negative views of female officers such as the perception of being less physically capable, mentally and emotional feeble, and unable to earn the trust and respect of citizens. (Davis, 2005) There are many beliefs that because men have maintained the lead role in law enforcement, allowing more women to carry out the same duties demystifies the masculine persona that has always gone hand in hand with policing. There remains the stigma that males have always had the protective role, not a female, and this way of thinking continues to be difficult to deter from. On the other hand, although it is not fact, many police authorities would agree that policewomen are better empathizers and sympathizers in cases concerning women and children - - as mentioned before, and that they tend to approach situations with a unique perspective; bringing different ideas and virtues to the table. For example, most female officers who are petite in stature, know they are unable to stop a physical confrontation, so in order to prevent the occurrence of a fight, will resort to communication to calm the situation. Not to say that males do not have compassion, but there is the maternal quality about females that juveniles feel more comfortable talking to rather than a big scary guy in uniform. (Miller, 2012) In other ways, female officers receive more respect than a male officer might. Patrol Officer Denelle Craul, of East Pennsboro Police Department believes, “Men are taught to respec...

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...C policy on gender discrimination recognizes that law enforcement agencies consist of both genders today. It is important to impose policies and laws that aim to ensure that both men and women are treated fairly and given equal opportunity in the workplace. This policy should not stand alone to battle discrimination, which is why the government has conducted several programs that encourage female police officers to participate to increase positive work attitudes, like coaching, training, mentoring, and planning. Although this policy has created an organizational culture that does not tolerate gender discrimination, in order for the FLETC policy to be truly effective, it is important to educate society, raise public awareness, and attempt to change social and traditional perceptions of gender. They, too, should be a factor in stomping out this misconduct.