In society today, law enforcement is facing an alarming crisis. Due to the number of excessive force scandals and police corruptions, there is a loss of public confidence and trust in officers. Astounding headlines such as, “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” and “I Can’t Breathe” have become the norm in today’s society. Police officers are being judged primarily by situations where police brutality and corruption are accused or have taken place. To combat this crisis, there needs to be an increased number of female officers recruited for the job. Across the country, female officers make up only 13% of all law enforcement officers. Although the percentage of female officers is very low, they are very effective in their roles and a necessity to all police departments. It has been proven that female officers are better at reducing potentially violent confrontations, have a substantially lower use of physical or excessive force than their male colleagues, and have fewer complaints submitted against them. …show more content…
Despite this evidence, the number of women in policing is very low. Women are reluctant to apply to departments because of the portrayal of high risk of injury due to reports depicted by the media. Their decisions not to apply are revolving around the recent shootings of police officers across the country and the treatment officers are encountering, being viewed as bad people, due to the bad actions of a few. Women play an essential role to any police department. There needs to be an increase in effort from police departments when it comes to recruiting women. Having more female officers can help to combat the negative view that people have for the police by bringing back trust and confidence. Having more women will also help to build a more diverse police force and would decrease police violence