In the most recent intake of new police recruits, three out of the five were women, but the gender balance diminishes as the ranks reach senior level.
To target the issue, new police chief Damian Kitchen is looking to support women in the middle ranks of the force so they can also have the chance to progress to the most senior office.
‘We have excellent pay equality, whereas in some places in the world there isn’t,’ he said.
‘The question is whether women feel supported and able to climb the ranks into higher positions where the pay is higher.’
‘Across all organisations we haven’t always been brilliant in supporting women who have children and want to come back, but we’ve made massive leaps and bounds, certainly in the past 10-15 years.
‘Recruiting women isn’t the problem, it’s how to retain them further down the line, and having modern policies and procedures to ensure that when women have children, they can return to work and be supported in that return.’
Gender balance in the police force has been static for a while, creeping up about 0.5% each year.
Currently more than a quarter (28%) of the force are female.
A female police sergeant who has been in the force for 30 years, interviewed by our Ladies’ College students, said that she found that the biggest challenge was being treated equally.
‘It is difficult for my voice to be listened to and for the details of what I’m saying to be heard,’ she said.
‘You are asking people to change personal beliefs that have been ingrained since childhood. Unless those in power fully acknowledge the problem, real change will not happen.’
The sergeant said that sometimes people directed questions at male police officers, even if she is more experienced, and the men then turn to her for guidance.
She said that she had fought hard against female bias, being the first female dog handler in the Channel Islands, and campaigning for women to be allowed to wear trousers instead of skirts on patrol. A female detective constable also interviewed by the students said that women were more likely to be sent to emotionally sensitive cases, increasing demand for female officers, but the solution should be encouraging more women into the force.
‘Strength in numbers is key. The more women in policing, the less we stand out as exceptions,’ she said.
‘The feeling of helping someone and making a difference in the community outweighs the politics.’
Mr Kitchen said that the two experiences were not representative of all of the women in the force. He believed that creating a representative workforce was not just about gender and race, but life experiences.
Research and strategy manager Marie Mauger has been in the organisation for 20 years, and while not a police officer, has worked across police and customs, including being the first woman on the senior leadership team at customs.
She said that the organisation had changed so much in how it treats women, but society had moved on too.
‘There will be times where men and women are different, such as when a male officer needs to search a man, or a female police officer needs to search a woman, there are times when you get called to different duties, but it goes both ways,’ she said.
‘28% of the police force is female, so there are fewer females and, like male officers, they will get called to different jobs when a female is specifically needed.
‘There’s still a lot to improve, but it is part of wider society. I’m proud that within our senior leadership team there are visible women in this organisation.’
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