It was not easy for those first policewomen in their early beginnings. In their early history, community members voiced concerns about incarcerated prisoners. In 1916 the Phoenix Woman’s Club organized a committee “to investigate the condition of the women’s quarter in the county and city jail.” In their report they noted that “the city jail with quarters in the basement had floor and white-washed wood walls in fairly clean conditions though the toilet was very unsanitary. No bedding but two filthy blankets was provided for each cot. A promise to obtain clean bedding was obtained.”

In the 1930 and 1940 women were mostly employed as secretaries in the police department until the late 1950’s.

This investigation would in part, years later result in the first woman to work for the Phoenix Police Department. It was reported that Ruth Melcher was hired as the Jail Matron in 1933 to work in the women’s section of the city jail at Historic City Hall at 17 South 2nd Ave. Her position was at the direct result of a request by the U.S. Marshal after a contract was agreed upon with the City of Phoenix covering the maintenance of federal prisoners.

Jail Matron Ruth Melcher’s police identification card

It was not until after WWII that the first females were sworn into the department as policewomen. Many of them served in the Juvenile and Crime Prevention Bureaus. This might have been a direct result of women who had stepped into men’s factory job to help in the war effort, since many of the men were now serving in the military and had left their jobs. By 1945 there were now three regularly commissioned female officers, Ruth Melcher, a female jail matron, and two who were assigned to the Juvenile Section where they dealt with crimes such as child molestation, abuse and rape. The first female officers on the force did not wear uniforms. Depending on the duty, plainclothes were worn most of the time. Another Jail Matron, Bernice Schick began in 1943 until becoming the first female Phoenix Police Department radio dispatcher in 1955. Mary Makaryanc (Van Doren) who began in July 2, 1945 with the assistance of the State Department, worked in the juvenile division

The Juvenile Bureau in 1948 may have had several women for secretarial duties. It would not be for another decade until women were hired as Policewomen.

To join the police department in the 1950’s, women had to be between the ages of 21-35, between 5’4” and 5’10” weigh at least 120 pounds and have a high school diploma in addition to special training. Emma groom, who joined the police department in 1956, walked a beat in downtown Phoenix, taking the job to help provide for her family while her husband was injured. She eventually became a detective. “It’s all fascinating, sometimes sad. It isn’t a job you leave behind you when you go home, but it is rewarding.” Jeanette Reed began in 1958 and was also assigned to the Juvenile Division,

Some of the very first policewomen with there gradulating class in Oct 1957.

Pat Lamson, the first Phoenix female officer to be promoted to sergeant joined in 1957 and her duties included working with schools in safety programs, speaking before students, churches and organizations of public safety, driver’s education, and public relations. She said, “The role of a policewoman is often misrepresented. There are tremendous opportunities in this field for women, and with our city expanding at such a fast pace there will be more opening in the future.” She added, “Women are naturally more adept then men at handling some situation, particularly where women and children are involved.”

The first policewomen promoted to sergeant was Pat Lamson who also served as the Radio Sergeant

Female officers at Calvin Goode Building

But with the addition of women, changes were slow to occur. The headlines in the local paper on Oct 20th, 1957 read, “Beware of the Skirts! They speak with authority.” The newspaper noted women would make an appearance on downtown streets for the first time in Phoenix’s History. The paper reported, “Two of four policewomen completed rookie training and will start directing traffic, writing tickets, and even investigation accidents according to Police Chief Charles P. Thomas.” Only two would be in uniform and they would be identical to the men except for skirts. The other two would not be in uniforms yet since their clothing had not arrived. At that time, the policewomen worked in the Juvenile Section and again as a Jail Matron. Eventually they could walk beats in the downtown district “moving along loiterers and arresting moochers and drunks.” They were instructed not to try to subdue any combative prisoner, just to advise them that they were under arrest and call for the paddy wagon. They were trained in judo for self-defense and carried service revolvers in their shoulder bags. The Police Chief planned to try them out on issuing tickets for overtime parked cars. At that time, the officers were listed as Emma Groom, Loa Gray, Laura Mc Cauley and Jeanette Reed.

Policewomen Dixie McCauley and Emma Groom on duty in downtown Phoenix writing parking tickets as part of their new duties

On August 20th, 1972, the newspaper reported that Officer Sheila Garcia and Nikki La Barge were the first woman graduates of the Phoenix Police Academy to work as patrol officers in the Field Operations Division. “We had no idea we would be working out in the field (patrol).” Officer Garcia explained, “Usually women would wind up on the desk or in the jail. This was a bonus, because this was what police work is all about.” Garcia ended 13 weeks of training at the academy. She had previously worked the complaint desk and five years in the communications section. Garcia said she was aware that using women in patrol was only experimental. Asst. chief Joseph Pacheco said, “The women will be kept from potentially dangerous calls such as armed robberies and brawls. But they still run the risk of being at the scene of something dangerous when it occurs.” The chief added, “It’s experimental right now and we’ll have to evaluate their performance.’’ When Officer Garcia’s patrol sergeant was asked if having a woman around might change anything at the substation he replied, “The language might be a little more guarded.” Officer Garcia was hopeful that the department’s experiment with women patrol officers would be successful. “I hope it works,” she explained. “I think it would be great if this was permanent.” Other cities using women patrol officers at the time include Dallas, Indianapolis, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, and Peoria, ILL.

Officer Brenda Hill interviews a subject in the 1980’s as part of her patrol duties.

Changes continued with other ‘firsts’ such as the female officer Donnie Buenao (in 1981 or 1982) to be assigned to the Special Assignments Unit (SWAT), the first motor officer Nancy Elam, and many others including the first female Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams.

This video captures the special event that took place on Oct. 28th, 2016, when the City of Phoenix officially swore in Jeri Williams as their Chief of Police.