Voices from the Blue: The Real Lives of Policewomen (100 Years of Women in the Met) - Hardcover

Rees, Jennifer; Strange, Robert J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1472143094 ISBN 13: 9781472143099

Publisher: Robinson, 2019

Synopsis

'God, I love these women! Their breeziness, compassion, humour and resilience are a tonic'

Libby Purves, Times Literary Supplement


In February 1919, London's first women police officers took to the streets of the city. They battled entrenched gender stereotypes, institutional inequality, sexual harassment and assaults disturbingly familiar to those affecting today's #MeToo generation of modern women. Female officers, facing resentment from male colleagues, were expected to do little more than 'Make the tea, luv . . .' and were charged with the sole task of looking after women and children who fell into police hands.

Yet, in the course of a century, policewomen have won the equality they demanded, overcome sexism and prejudice, rejected harassment and sexual assaults and smashed through the glass ceiling to lead, rather than follow, their male colleagues. One hundred years on from those first Women Police Constables, a woman, Cressida Dick, holds the most powerful position in British policing, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner.

Voices from the Blue tells the story of the hundred years of service of female police officers within the Metropolitan Police through the voices of the women who fought their way towards equality and won the respect of both their colleagues and the public. The authors have interviewed hundreds of former and serving policewomen and with the co-operation of the Metropolitan Police and the Women's Police Association now have access to the files and stories of thousands of former officers who served over the past hundred years. Those police archives, together with material held by the National Archives and private libraries, provide a detailed and fascinating oral history of the challenges women police officers faced down the years.

About this title

About the Authors

JENNIFER REES is a retired Metropolitan Police Officer and Scenes of Crimes Officer with more than thirty years of experience. She joined as a Women Police Constable in 1969, when female police officers were still part of an entirely separate department. In more recent times she changed direction to become a Senior Forensic Training Manager at the Metropolitan Police Crime Academy in Hendon.

ROBERT J. STRANGE is a former Fleet Street crime reporter, a television director, and executive producer of factual documentary series for major broadcasters such as the BBC and C4 in the UK, and the Discovery and National Geographic channels in America. He is the author of books about the sinking of Titanic and the enduring mystery of the missing peer Lord Lucan.

From the Inside Flap

These are astonishing stories from the front line of policing in London, told in the voices of policewomen who have served in the hundred years since women first joined the service. They include tales of heroism, humour, crime-busting and tragedy, including personal stories from Britain's most senior officer, Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick. First-hand experiences that reveal what female police officers have endured and achieved as they fought entrenched discrimination to smash the glass ceiling and reach the top.

In February 1919, the first women police officers took to the streets of London. They battled entrenched gender stereotypes, institutional inequality, sexual harassment and even assaults. Resented by many male colleagues, female officers were expected to do little more than 'Make the tea, Luv . . .' and were tasked with looking after the women and children who fell into police hands.

It's a Fair Cop, Luv tells the story of how policewomen have won the equality they demanded. A century on from the first Women Police Patrols, women now hold some of the most powerful positions in the British justice system.

Edition details

• Publisher: Robinson
• Publication date: 2019
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1472143094
• ISBN 13: 9781472143099
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 320