Is it a Man's World? The Contagion Effects of Women in Law Enforcement

• In Event: Women in Policing II

Abstract

The addition of greater numbers of female officers to police departments is often seen as a first step decreasing some of the main issues within policing, specifically police use of force. While there is mixed literature on whether female officers as individuals are better at deescalation and engage in fewer uses of force, little has been done to examine their contagion effects, or whether higher percentages of female officers can lower use of force rates for the department as a whole. This study will use the Dallas Police Response to Resistance dataset to examine police use of force by precinct. Comparisons will be made based on the precinct makeup of female officers. Given the recent 30 by 30 initiative in policing, this study can provide insight into the potential effectiveness of this initiative as well as help estimate the needed critical mass of women in policing to actively witness the feminine attributes that are believed to lead to better deescalation and communication which in turn leads to lower uses of force.

Author

• Ashley Schroeder, American University