Many California cities had
employed women as matrons or workers since 1890. These employees
specialized in the care of female prisoners, and worked in the City and County
prisons and other penal institutions.
On the first day of her
appointment, Mrs. Wells was furnished with a Gamewell (a telephone call box) key, a book of rules, a first aid
book, and a policeman's badge. In
those days, an officer was privileged to enjoy free trolley car rides while
going to and from work, but when Mrs. Wells displayed her badge, the conductor
accused her of misusing her husband's identity. This was remedied by presenting
her with Policewoman's Badge Number One.
Mrs. Wells was assigned to work
with Officer Leo W. Marden, the Department's first juvenile officer. Subsequent
to her appointment, the following order was issued: No young girl can be questioned by a male officer. Such work is
delegated solely to policewomen, who, by their womanly sympathy and intuition,
are able to gain the confidence of their younger sisters.
Her first duties included
supervision and enforcement of laws concerning dance halls, skating rinks, penny arcades, picture shows, and other
similar places of public recreation. Among her activities were the suppression of unwholesome billboard
displays, searches for missing persons, and the maintenance of a general
information bureau for women seeking advice on matters within the scope of
police departments.
In 1911, the position of women
police officers in Los Angeles was placed under Civil Service control. By
October 1912, there were three policewomen and three police matrons in the
Department.
Mrs. Wells' appointment prompted
nationwide publicity, and by 1916, her efforts in promoting the need for female
officers resulted in the hiring of policewomen in 16 other cities and in
several foreign countries. She was also instrumental in organizing the
International Policewomen's Association in 1915.
Three years later, Mrs. Wells
succeeded in persuading the University of California, Southern Division (now
UCLA) to offer the first course specifically on the work of women police
officers. The course was introduced by the school's Criminology Department in the
summer session in 1918.
Mrs. Wells was named the first
president of the Women's Peace Officers Association of California in 1928, a
group she helped to create. In July 1934, she was promoted to the rank of
sergeant and appointed the Los Angeles Police Department historian, a post she
held until her retirement on November 1, 1940. She had been a policewoman for
30 years.
Alice Stebbins Wells fought for
the idea that women, as regular members of municipal police departments, are
particularly well-qualified to perform protective and preventive work among
juveniles and female criminals. She will be remembered for introducing this new
concept into local law enforcement.
Since her appointment,
policewomen have been assigned duties in patrol, delinquency prevention,
investigation of crimes involving juveniles, and investigation of other cases
in which the service of a female officer is deemed necessary.
By 1937, thirty-nine policewomen
were employed by the LAPD. In addition, five
aerial policewomen were appointed as reserve officers. These specially
appointed aerial officers joined a previously all-male squadron of commercial
and highly trained amateur pilots who were summoned to duty in situations
requiring expert flyers.
Mrs. Wells died in August 1957.
Attending her funeral service as pallbearers were Deputy Chief Frank E. Walton,
Jr., Inspector K.J. McCauley, Sergeants G.E. Luther and A.R. Bongard, and
Policewomen Betty J. Munson, and Chloe I. Gilmore. Ten other policewomen in
full dress uniform served as the Honor Guard. Interment was in Forest Lawn
Memorial Park.
VIA THE LAPD OFFICIAL WEBSITE
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