PERSONALITIES

Southland Times, Issue 19276, 21 June 1924, Page 9 (Supplement)

PERSONALITIES

A WOMAN BOBBY.,

(By

Ædile.)

In 1914 the British authorities appointed the first probation policewoman for London, Mary S. Allen, who was detailed to watch the railway stations and to protect young women from attentions they did not like. Miss Allen proved an. instantaneous success in an exceedingly difficult job and to-day she is the chief of the Woman’s Auxiliary Service of the London Police with the rank of Commandant. She is the founder of this women’s corps and its efficiency is chiefly due to the skill and energy she has thrown into the organisation. Describing this unusual woman recently Martha Coman said: — “The Commandant tripped away to answer a telephone call and when she returned we urged her to take off her blue visored cap with its insignia and gold braid. We saw a well-shaped head with light brown hair tinged with- gray and worn short. The London “Bobby” makes a distinction between bobbed hair, shingled hair and short hair, such as the London policewoman, wear on account of their military caps. At first the Commandant wore her hair long and massed on top of her head, but the coils and hairpins made her cap bulge and hurt and it required such a big headsize that the finally decided in favour of short hair. She drew out a pocket comb and ran it through her thick crop, which is trimmed like a man’s in the black and is worn brushed straight back from her forehead. Her coat reached the knees and had a circular skirt. It was lined with silk, and when she unstrapped her leather belt and opened the coat we saw a pair of dark blue military breeches tucked into the tops of black leather boots. The order of the British Empire decorates the breast of her coat and there were tiny strips of crimson on her shoulder straps. The monocle, which swings from a black’ silk ribbon, is worn for service, not effect. And when she is fully arrayed for work she weara leather gauntlets. On all occasions she wears a coat and breeches, corduroys for the country, or perhaps tweeds and dark blue cloth for duty. In fact, Commandant Allen does not own a skirt. She is probably the only modem woman whose wardrobe cannot boast a dinner gown or a tea gown. Having once adopted men’s clothes she has found them so comfortable and suitable for her work and her recreations, that nothing in the world could induce her to discard them in favour of feminine attire. Commandant Allen looks for all the world like a trimly garbed British officer who possibly has seen service in Africa or India. Her skin is tanned and her features are clearcut like those of a seasoned military men.”

After she had proved herself on the London railway stations, Commandant Allen found a large force under her control and to-day Britain has 120 policewoman on duty. At the close of the war, she was sent across to the occupied area to study the special problems raised by the proximity of the British troops and the German girls. She went to Germany at the suggestion of the British War Office and presented her report on conditions there and the best way to meet them. She advised the War Office to send policewomen to Germany. Six British women are there now serving as advisers to the young and the old. Commandant Allen also interested the German Government in appointing German policewoman to assist in the work. They are paid by Germany and the women are uniformed. Besides her police work Commandant Allen is interested in a baby home in Kent, where the infants of unmarried mothers are cared for. She is also one of the officers of the Bureau of Advice, where poor people, both men am women, may come at any time of the da) for help and advice. Sometimes men seek the bureau to find their missing wives, and sometimes it is a wife who comes to ask them to search for her husband. Commandant Allen is frequently called upon to go to places to speak about the policewomen and their work. She wants to in- . terest the women of Great Britain in this movement, interest them to the point where they will seriously consider joining the force. Quite recently she visited America where, as a rule the policewomen work as “plainclothes” officers. Comparisons raised the question of the desirability of the uniform, but Commandant Allen was firm on the British view: “We wear this as a deterrent; we think that when a man or women who might commit a crime, sees the uniform it may prevent them from committing a crime. Half the people who do commit crimes wouldn’t if there were some influence to stop them. That’s one reason why we have policewomen at railway stations and at other places where criminals and the criminally inclined are to be found. When we know a man is a habitual nuisance and our presence has no effect on him, then we send a plainclothes man to get him. I should like to see policewomen on duty at all stations and in time we may see them, but at present there are only 120 policewomen in all England and we have just twenty in London. It is a new profession for women, and one that is bound to attract them when it is better known and when the remuneration is made sufficiently large. The educated .woman can earn more in other professions now than she can in this, but the time may come when it will be well paid. The better type of woman you enlist in this service the better will be the service. And it is an interesting work, viewed particularly from the crime prevention side. The qualifications now include a high school education, though we would like to make a college education compulsory. We don’t care to take women under 34, but we set no limit at the other end of the figures. Because women are older it doesn’t mean that they have more sense. I’ve seen some fools that were at least 40 or 50. And I don’t consider that married women are any more desirable than unmarried ones. I have had too much experience with women to think that because they are married they know more. Marriage is just an added experience. I had a hard time to get men to agree with me on this age idea, but they are gradually coming to see it my way. Special work requires brains and a great deal of discretion.”