Page 39 - Garda Journal Summer 2019

FEATURE | Alice Stebbins
Alice Stebbins
In 1909, Wells succeeded in getting 100 signatures on a petition requesting for an ordinance that would enable women to serve in the Los Angeles Police Department. Considering women did not even have the right to vote yet, one might think that the petition would have been thrown out when presented to the City Council and Mayor George Alexander. However, her requests were heard. Wells was sworn in and issued a telephone call box, first aid book, police rule book, and “policeman’s badge.” She was not given a weapon or a uniform.
Unsurprisingly, Wells faced many challenges at the start of her career due to the rampant gender bias that existed throughout the country. Her “policeman’s badge” had to be exchanged for a “Policewoman’s Badge Number One” after a trolley conductor accused her of stealing her husband’s when she presented it to get a free ride. Additionally, she was partnered with the LAPD’s first juvenile officer, Officer Leo W. Marden, and stifled by an order the force soon issued. It determined that only female police officers could question young women. Wells, by default, had found her beat. Her main activities included supervising public recreation areas that were deemed feminine, such as dance halls, movie theatres and skating rinks.
Despite her obviously biased assignments, Wells was not deterred in her fight for women’s place in law enforcement. After two years on the force, she joined the rest of the LAPD in welcoming two new female officers.
The female officers fell under the jurisdiction of the Civil Service. Wells’ appointment had garnered national attention and led to the hiring of female officers in sixteen other cities across the United States. When she created the International Policewomen’s Association (now the International Association of Women Police) in 1915, it became clear that women were well on their way to changing the makeup of law enforcement.
Much of that change would also come from education. Wells convinced the University of California, Southern Division (now UCLA) to offer a course solely dedicated to policewomen and
GARDA JOURNAL 39