This study demonstrates that gender is not a valid reason to bar women from patrol work.
Women perform patrol tasks as well as men.
The attitudes and behaviors of some male officers, however, may create personnel problems if not properly addressed by managers. But in 1972, Congress passed an amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibiting state and local agencies from job discrimination based on gender. Even before the law changed, however, the Police Foundation had begun surveying police departments to find out what was known about policewomen and their role in the law enforcement community. The foundation asked The Urban Institute to help evaluate how well women performed as patrol officers. The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia was selected for the study.