July 2001 Volume 82 Number 7 "serving the protectors"
By Bernadette Zimmermann PASA committee member

Women officers Denigrated by media

Recent reporting of the “McDermott Trial” could certainly have bewildered many of our members for a number of different reasons. The finding seems to have encouraged opportunist-style reporting from some who found an excuse to put forward outdated, incorrect and non-factual views and comments. I refer to a Sunday Mail story reported on June 3, 2001.

Ignorant comments flowed freely from people who did not wish to be named. It is a wonder how the obvious lack of credibility in this style of reporting makes a story at all. In the meantime, comments from a couple of people expressing their unqualified views about how women officers handle frontline situations make the headline, “Are women cops coping?”

As a police officer with nearly twenty years experience, I am sick and tired of being questioned (especially via poor media stories) about my ability, solely on the basis of the sex I was born. I’m sure I speak for all trained women officers when I say that.

As much as the story was without credibility, it was heartening to receive positive feedback from many colleagues and others outside our profession. Many of us received e-mails, phone calls and other encouraging messages of support after the story was printed. One officer was incensed enough by the article that, while on extended leave, he contacted the officers concerned to pass on his support.

PASA President, Peter Alexander was right when he asserted, “Gender and size (are) not an issue”. One can only wonder incredulously, then, about the comments made by Independent MP, Nick Xenophon, when he said this: “If you have a 26-stone officer telling you to move on, then you move, but if that is not the case, backup and training should be there.” I’m not sure exactly how many 26-stone police officers there are, but I know this is not the qualification required when asking someone to move on. What kind of policing is being encouraged here? One can only wonder.

Another unusual angle in the article is Shane Maguire’s reference to numbers of officers claiming compensation for work-related injuries. Maguire says that out of a total of 1,658 officers reporting such injuries, 268 were female officers. So what! 1,390 weren’t. What is the point of this comment?

Again, it highlights the curious nature and intent of media stories about women officers. In this example it was pathetic to use the comments of police officers who, in the witness box, admitted they were frightened during the process of an arrest. This seems to have given Maguire an excuse to publicly question the “viability” of employing women on the “frontline”.

All police officers will, at some time during the course of their career, feel the effects of fear. The frightening moments cannot be defined by, or limited to, the sex we are born. Ill-informed commentators have no right to question the bravery of police.

PASAweb   Index & Search   Top of Page   Comments   Email to Editor

The Police Journal Online is an official publication of the Police Association of South Australia and is published monthly. Editors of kindred publications can seek permission from the Editor to re-publish any Police Journal Online article. Copyright 2001  The Police Association of South Australia sustance