the Minister of the Interior by women's organizations, particularly by the private protective associations, and who were experienced workers in this field. They were required to have a formal education comparable to that of the Junior High Schools in the United States or the Ecole Primaire Supérieure of France.

RÉSUMÉ

Educational Requirements: Based on the available evidence the preliminary requirements of candidates for the position of women police appearing in the proposed United States Senate Bill S.4308, are feasible. The minimum requirements proposed are: "Gradation from a standard high school or the completion of at least 14 college entrance units of study, and either not less than two years' responsible experience in systematic social service or educational work, or not less than two years' responsible commercial experience involving public contact and tending to qualify the applicant to perform the duties of the position."

Uniform: Whether or not women police shall wear a uniform has aroused little discussion in the United States. It has been almost tacitly accepted that they shall dress in quiet dark colors, but not in uniform when on ordinary duty." On certain duties, such as special patrol of crowded public places a uniform might be useful.

21 Proceedings of the 1916 Annual Meeting of the International Association of Policewomen.

In London and in some provincial forces, the women police wear a uniform.

Age: The minimum age for women police has been around twenty-five years. There is difference of opinion as to the desirable maximum age both of entry into and retirement from the service. The general trend of opinion indicates a good maximum age for entry as from thirty-five to forty years, and for retirement from fifty to fifty-five.

METHODS OF SELECTION

The question of the methods of selection received little attention until after the recent world war. Until that time in those countries or cities where women were employed on police duties, there was really little conscious selection, as such. The heads of departments employed those women who came to their attention through divers channels of information. Now, however, that the work of women police has taken on a more serious import, attention is being given not only to the type of woman who shall serve but to the manner of her selection.

In Great Britain three methods have been proposed: (a) Selection by Chief Constables; 22 (b) Selection by Chief Constables assisted by a woman; (c) Selection by a Board."

23

In the United States, in 1920, about one-half of those cities employing women in their police de

22 156, 509, 549, 550, 1314-7, 1622, 1644-8, 1653, 1824, 2085, A. 852, 923.

23 2073, 2166-7, 2518, 2692, A. 1735-6, 849.

24 194, 555, 623, 682, 1067-70, 1418, 2801-2. A. P. 37.

partments required civil service examinations.25 The tendency today in this country is distinctly toward such a system of selection. The situation in New York is a curious one. In that city there are 2 examinations for women police-1 that was used for some years for police matrons and has no relation to the ability of the candidate to do other work than that ordinarily required of such persons. Seventy of the 100 women in the department have been selected by this examination. The remaining 30-who are called patrolwomen-have passed a different type of examination which has particular reference to their ability to perform the preventive functions of the police."

Up to the present time it has been largely a matter of chance if 2 cities use the same civil service examination questions. The Employment Service of the United States Department of Labor has prepared a set of civil service questions for women police candidates, and which are coming to the attention of many persons interested in this subject.27 The oral examination and personal interview are considered of prime importance in a field of work where the proper temperament and personality are essential to effective results. In this country women are playing an increasingly greater part in the selection of women police.

There are two elements to be considered in the

25 Tentative Digest of Questionnaire of the International Association of Policewomen.

26 See Appendix II. 2. 27 See Appendix II. 1.

selection of women police: the written examination and the personal interview. The civil service examination questions should be of such type that to properly answer them requires, not a superficial knowledge of dissociated fragments of routine information, but a well-grounded knowledge of conditions conducive to delinquency and the methods which have proved most successful in controlling them. The oral examination or personal interview should be held before a selection board or commission composed both of men and women. There would seem little doubt but that men experienced in police service should pass upon the fitness of women for actual police duty, and it is of equal importance that women should decide as to whether or not they are temperamentally and emotionally fitted for preventive work with young people and that they actually know about the problems which form the bulk of their work. In the United States this result could be obtained through a carefully chosen Civil Service Commission composed of men and women. The Civil Service Commissions in this country have generally welcomed suggestions for the examinations of women police candidates, and groups interested in the movement might find, at this point, their best channel for effective work in raising the standard of selection for their municipal women police.

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CHAPTER XIV

TRAINING AND TRAINING SCHOOLS

The United States: University of California, Boston School of Public Service, Police Department of New York City, New York School of Social Work, George Washington University-Great Britain: Peel House, Women Police Service School, Bristol School, Liverpool School, Scottish School-Résumé.

Different countries have approached the subject of the training of their men police from somewhat dissimilar points of view which have been influenced by their conception of police functions and of their relative importance in the social order.1 In some countries the directing police officials are required to undergo training comparable to that of American Universities with added technical and field-work experience, while elementary school education is required of the patrolmen and petty officers.

In the United States prospective men recruits must pass a civil service examination and enter the ranks. Most frequently the officers who direct the actual police work in this country are men who have proved themselves "good officers" in the ranks.

1 American Police Systems-European Police Systems. Raymond B. Fosdick.