Among 1st female cops hired by Tucson PD

Joan Robles, who was among the first women cops hired by the Tucson Police Department, died Oct. 13. She was 90.

Robles died at her home surrounded by family and friends, said her former husband, George Robles.

She had suffered a minor heart attack Oct. 4 — her birthday — and her health “slowly failed from there,” said her stepdaughter Maryann Simpson.

Both lovingly talked about Robles’ life, Simpson describing her as a “pretty spectacular woman.”

“She was the most curious woman I ever knew. She read voraciously and was very interested about different cultures, and what people had to say,” she said of Robles, who began traveling the world in the early 1950s on through 2006. Her travels included Europe, Japan, South America and Malaysia.

Robles’ work as a police officer for TPD began in 1952. She was trained by Alice Maguire who became her partner.

Maguire had just returned from Los Angeles where she underwent three weeks of training, and learned how to use a gun and defend herself. She took Robles under her wing and Robles learned on the job.

In a 2013, Maguire explained why the department hired them. The League of Women Voters didn’t like the idea of policemen frisking women and children. The league impressed upon the city manager the need for women on the force.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” said Robles. “There was a segment of the population down there who were suspicious of us,” said Robles of the other officers. Maguire added: “They thought we were stool pigeons for the chief, but we weren’t.”

Robles and her partner worked rotating eight-hour shifts and earned less than $300 a month, considered good pay then. The women worked with the detective squad. They wore high heels, skirts and jackets.

Each had a specially designed purse with a holster for their gun.