Women Police of Scotland Yard

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22777, 10 July 1937, Page 2 (Supplement)

Women Police of Scotland Yard

Raiding Illegal Night Clubs and Tracking Down Foreign Spies

By M.H.H.— (Copyright)

SCOTLAND YARD is the headquarters of the London Metropolitan police force. This force has 23 divisions and 19,360 man. It polices Greater London, which includes 8,250,000 people in en area of 700 square miles within a radius of 15 miles of Cbaring Cross. I walked into Scotland Yard, which even in its most expansive moments is uncommunicative, and from Chief Dorothy Olivia Georgian.l Peto and others I learned the story of the women police.

I,T -was nearly 20 years ago that the criminal investigation department of Scotland Yard decided there were some things in the "business of policing London which could be dono far better by women .than by men, if they got the right §women. So they gob 50 and put thern ;$o work. For 15 years these women had an ■japhill pull against music hall jokes, ;but in the last few years they have Icome so'much into their own that it ?Jias been decided to increase theii; number to 120. That is why I went ; %o see ' Qhief Dorothy Peto, or Madam Peto," as her women subordinates call her. £ ?' I suppose you will soon nnd your so new policewomen," T said. " On the Jlbontrary," replied Chief Peto, "wo ©kpect it will take two years. The kind of women wo want is verv hard to Type Required The women they want must have Jhigh intelligence, courage, tact, deli;fcaey, health and character; and. while !.ihere aro thousands of such women in 'England, the trouble is that they do aot generally want to be women police. TJiere are hundreds of applicants who 'fere strong and big and " tough." But .size and ferocity are not enough. They ■want human beings, not Amazons.

when they sit on a bench in Hyde Park, hungry and ill-clad and cold, wondering whether or not to take the only way out. Everything connected with crime or delinquency among women is the field of the women police. Patrolling streets and open spaces in uniform, preventive work among friendless young women, offences against and cruelty to women and children, searching and questioning women suspects and prisoners, arresting women who break the law, watching disorderly houses —these are the duties of the ladies of Scotland Yard. Detective Work " It's not very exciting," I said. " No," replied a Yard official, " the less excitement there is the better they aro doing the work in which they take considerable risk." " But aren't thero any women detectives?" " Oh, I shouldn't think they go into that very much," said the official vaguely, by which I knew at once that they do go into that, and after a little third degree, the policeman "came through." " To tell the truth," he said, " plainclothes women are a lot better than men detectives at some types of work, and we have four of five of them. "NVe wouldn't know what to do without those girls." And he told me about the great bottle party ramp, "Bottle parties" are used by London night clubs to get around the

SThey want women with hearts and drains as well as brawn. And they even want good look 3. An applicant need not have a faco like Helen of Troy, but neither must she have one that would scare the life out of the poor down-and-out girls who wander through Hyde Park trying to pluck up enough courage to ask a policewoman for help and advice. " As for the rest," said Chief Peto, " we do not caro whether they come from. Oxford or the farm or a factory, bo long as they have the character and qualifications wo want and can pass our - exams." Tests of Knowledge Tho written examination (which reed not bo written by any applicant ; frith a certificate from a pecondary school or university—though needless to -say, few university women go into —the force) includes questions in arithmetic, geography and general knowledge. ' The arithmetic test is easy. Ninety minutes is nHswod for six problems, of which .this is an example: " llow many lengths of one foot nine inches can be cut from a plank 13 feet long?" Geography is equally easy. One hour Sb allowed for answering five questions <ij tho following typo: "Write an "'account of the industries of South Lancashire, naming the chief productions, the. countries from which the raw materials are chiefly obtained and | tho; Special advantages of the region for the industries you mention." " It is not knowledge that counts so much when we examine applicants," eaid Miss Peto. " Tho written examinations are hot so important us tho oral ones. What wo look for is ' civilised young women. What wo impress on their minds is thiit the duty of policemen and policewomen is to help the public, not bully it." Oalls lor Sacrifice * "How old must they be?" I asked. "Between '24 and 35." "Do you accept married women?" " No, .though - in many ways married women would lse very acceptable. But they have other ■ claims on their time and devotion; and the policewoman's job calls for the eacrifice of most other interests." But what is the policewoman's job? One day in Oxford Street 1 saw a policewoman struggling with a man who had just stolen a watch out of a shop. But ' that was just a coincidence—slio happened to be there at the time. It is riot the usual duty of policewomen to direct traffic and hunt down criminals, though they do it sometimes. -What their: duties are, you soon realise il you spend an afternoon strolling .through Hyde Park. Young girls run away, or just walk away, from their homes in the provinces and go to London in search of fortune, i They do not find a job very often, let 6lone fortune and fame. The day comes

rigorous English liquor licensing laws, under which beer, wines and spirits can be sold only in certain hours. Strange Schemes Those hours do not include tho wee. small ones —and that is when people who go to night clubs want to drink. So they think up strange and wonderfid schemes. They buy their own drinks and store them in the club of their choice —and in England you can drink your own liquor anywhere and at any time. Well, some of these schemes are legal and somo are not, and it's the business of the women police to " get the dope " on the ones that are not. "Why tho women police?" I asked. " Because there's one awful thing about men detectives," said Scotland Yard somewhat ruefully: " You can tell them a mile away. Whether they are at a charity ball in fancy dress, or at a night club in tails and a white tie, or lounging in a doorway trying to look innocent, you can never mistake them. " Like Society Women " " But women are different. We have cno or two good-looking plainclothes women who, if you put them in evening gowns, look just like society women. They're the ones who do our night club work. And lots of other things besides." " What, for example?" But the Yard thought it had said enough. " You can take it from me," he concluded, " that for tact, unobtrusivonoss and discretion, the plainclothes

woman has it all over the men every time." " For tracking down foreign spies?" " Yes, very often for tracking down foreign spies." "Women police are on probation for two years, during which period they are paid £2 ]os a week. Then they become constables, and can work their way up by annual increases to a salary of *£-4 10a a week. After 20 years of sorvice they may bo given extra annual increments. If they become sergeants, they earn tip to £5 10s a week. And inspectors at the top of their careers get i 8 a week. And yet they wonder why it's going to tako them two years to get the extra 70 women needed by the force.