When a Hoffman Estates police officer shot and killed a man last week, some witnesses made much of the fact that the man was black and the officer white.
Authorities strongly denied that race played a role. But another factor was never even raised: The officer was a woman. No one asked, at least not in public, whether the outcome would have been different had she been a man.
That, perhaps, is a good indication of how accepted women have become in law enforcement.
Whether in Chicago or suburban departments, women officers are moving up in the ranks. And though sexism lingers, many women say they contend with far fewer obstacles than in the past.
Jeanne McGough this year became the first woman to be a Chicago district commander. McGough admits to being a bit embarrassed: She should have some horror stories to tell, some tales of blatant discrimination or sexual harassment. She has none.
Cindy Pontoriero was upset by the fuss when she became the department`s first woman detective in 1972. ”I was a novelty,” she said.
When she made lieutenant last year, it didn`t make the news.
But for all the progress quietly being made, there are such publicized exceptions as the case of Florene Williams, one of the first women officers in Hoffman Estates, who is suing for alleged sexual and racial harassment.
Women make up 14.5 percent of the Chicago force, 1,749 out of 12,100 officers.
As of this spring, there were 3,554 women on New York City`s force of 26,386; Los Angeles had 1,102 out of 8,313. That`s slightly more than 13 percent for each of those cities.
Those the percentages have been growing. And they`ll keep growing in Chicago as long as the city follows its affirmative action plan, which says one-third of new hires should be female, said John Dineen, president of the Fraternal Order of Police.
Although city percentages aren`t mirrored in suburban departments-about 5 percent of Du Page County officers are women-the numbers are growing.
In Hoffman Estates, Marylu Redmond, who was involved in last week`s shooting, is one of eight women out of 85 officers. Wilmette has only one woman out of 43 officers, and Rolling Meadows none on its staff of 53. Mt. Prospect has six on a force of 78.
When women first became patrol officers in Chicago in 1974, Central District Officer Bob Barberio wasn`t impressed. ”I didn`t care for it,” he said.
Now, his partner, Mary Darling, calls him her ”second husband.” And he says he can`t imagine working with anyone else.
Barberio and Darling are side products of the introduction of female patrol officers: Men and women who are the closest of friends.
”He understands me, and I understand him,” Darling said. ”He knows what I`m going to do, and I know what he`s going to do. My partner. I adore him.”
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Barberio said Darling won him over with her self-confidence and willingness to step into a fight. But the two still encounter the attitudes of others.
”Some people look at her like she`s got two heads,” Barberio said. ”I say, `You must have your two heads on today.` ”
Darling, who used to work with a female partner, remembered one woman`s reaction:
”We pulled up in our squad car with our uniforms on. We said, `Did you call the police?` `Yes, I called the police. Where are they?` We said, `Ma`am, we didn`t steal the car and the uniforms. We are the police.` ”
McGough and Pontoriero recall similar experiences, but they say their advances up the ranks have been surprisingly free of sexism.
”I suppose I should say I encountered problems all along, but I just didn`t,” McGough said of her fellow officers. ”I`m sure they were watching. If you`re afraid to get your hands dirty or your hair messed, nobody`s going to want to work with you.”
Chicago has 10 women lieutenants, 44 detectives and 96 sergeants, said spokeswoman Tina Vicini.
Suburban figures are low: About a half-dozen women hold the rank of sergeant or above in all of Du Page County.
But suburban police say things are changing, and the story of Lisa Brogan`s career in Naperville may best illustrate that.
She was suspended in 1988 when she became pregnant. Brogan fought the suspension in court, was backed up by the federal government and won her job back.
She was promoted to sergeant last year.
In Chicago, ”policewomen” held jobs such as youth officers before the 1970s, Vicini said. After they became full-fledged ”police officers,”
veteran men had to adjust.
Central District Cmdr. Michael Malone remembers asking a patrolman to join his tactical team. The patrolman said he would if his partner could come. ”I said, `What`s his name?` ” Malone recalled. ”His name was Donna.”
Sherwood Williams, a division chief, said: ”The male chauvinists on the job thought women wouldn`t be adequate partners when they had to battle physically. Some would out-and-out say, `You`ll have to transfer me. I won`t work with a woman partner.` ”
Indeed, most women readily admit they aren`t equal in strength. Cathy Fitzgibbon, a Belmont Area detective, used to have a woman partner, Joan Biebel, now a sergeant.
”We were very high in arrests, highly rated, but we didn`t have many fights,” Fitzgibbon said. ”My partner and I were talkers.”
They were once called upon to arrest Garney Lester, a muscular gunrunner known to fight police.
”We said, `If you fight, we`ll call for help and you`ll go in anyway, but you`ll have the reputation of fighting women. Or you can go peacefully,`
” Fitzgibbon said. ”He said, `Damn, I never fought me a woman.` And he went with us.”
It`s difficult to find male officers who will talk for the record against having women on patrol, though many do so privately. ”It`s not a politically correct viewpoint,” said a high-ranking veteran who asked not to be identified.
He contended that ”we`re slowly arriving at a two-tier police department” because many women aren`t fit for the job but are hired because the law demands it.
Many experienced men aren`t willing to work with women so the women often end up as partners when neither has much experience, he said. ”It`s the blind leading the blind. The only arrests they`re making are the easy ones: curfew violations, traffic arrests.”
He said statistics would be revealing, but Vicini said statistics on which arrests are made by women aren`t available.
Some argue that a woman may pull her gun too quickly in a situation like the one in Hoffman Estates because she can`t physically compete with a man.
”There are some who are uncomfortable working for a female boss,” said Sgt. H.A. McCarthy, who works for Pontoriero. But he said her background in homicide has won over many.
”She`s been down there with the down and dirty, the ugly people. Her investigative technique shines.”
”Watch us,” Pontoriero said. ”Some of us are capable.”
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