Men have hold over specialist police roles
It took Constable Elyse Lewis nine years to make it into the police dog section – the reason she joined the force.
The process was long-winded – made extra-long, she believed, because she was female. ‘‘There was only one other female dog handler at the time.
‘‘It was very uncommon for females to become dog handlers,’’ she said.
‘‘It took me a long time to build respect with people and prove I could do the job.’’
Lewis is one of three female police dog handlers in the country, alongside 130 men. And her experience is not unique: police specialist teams are still overwhelmingly male-dominated, despite efforts to diversify the force.
Data released under the Official Information Act shows women failed to crack 3 per cent in more than half of the 10 police specialist teams.
In the past 10 years, not one woman has ever been in the police dive squad.
The armed offenders squad, a team of 367, comprises 357 men and 10 women.
Police Association president Chris Cahill said the figures were ‘‘pretty disappointing’’.
‘‘I was a little bit surprised about some of the units.
‘‘I don’t think anyone could hide the fact they show there is a fair bit of work needed within police to increase the diversity in these specialist areas, without a shadow of a doubt,’’ Cahill said.
There were some factors to consider, however, he said. ‘‘A lot of these cohorts are really popular and they have a really low turnover, so getting that change is quite gradual and does take time.
‘‘The other issue is a lot of these squads require on-call and short notice callouts which can be problematic for female officers if they have families,’’ Cahill said.
Out of the 10 specialist teams, the police negotiation team boasted the greatest proportion of women at 32.6 per cent.
Cahill said traditionally there had always been more women in that area.
Changing perceptions
Lewis, who is 165cm tall, said offenders were often taken aback when she turned up with her german shepherd, Mist.
‘‘They definitely think twice and look twice at me, sort of underestimate me I suppose,’’ Lewis said.
‘‘I’m quite small. If I saw myself, I’d try and run too.’’
Cahill said there had traditionally been a view that some squads weren’t for women but attitudes were changing.
‘‘There’s been so much work done in that space in the past few years and the messaging is right, now it’s getting the action in place and clearly these numbers show there’s a lot work to be done.’’
Police deputy chief executive of people and capability Kaye Ryan said all roles within police were open to women.
‘‘While we are striving to increase diversity in police, we acknowledge the numbers of women currently in certain specialist roles are lower than we’d like,’’ she said.
There were more than 30 specialist roles within police and all women were encouraged to choose a pathway which challenged them, Ryan said.
‘‘Within police, districts hold specialist team awareness days for women, which are designed to increase the number of women in the squads.’’
Women’s rights campaigner Louise Nicholas said she had heard from women in the past who wanted to be in the armed offenders squad or the dog squad but didn’t think they were skilled enough or strong enough.
‘‘There’s a bit of self-doubt for them and women really need to be encouraged by police to get into these roles.’’
Factors like having families, height and build were not hindrances , she said. ‘‘We’ve got to cut this crap out.
‘‘It comes down to women and their ability to do the job beside men, and there are a lot of women out there that are better than some men.’’
Positive discrimination
While police leadership are pushing hard for diversity and development, there appears to be some resistance.
A letter to the November edition of the union magazine Police News expressed concern about development opportunities advertised only to women.
The letter said it was ‘‘positive discrimination gone mad’’.
‘‘If development opportunities for male officers only were advertised, there would be an uproar but it seems to be acceptable that we can alienate male staff and give all the opportunities to female staff,’’ the letter said.