LEGENDARY LADIES OF THE L.A.P.D.

Gail Ryan, LAWPOA Historian, is a retired police officer of the Los Angeles Police Department, and is a renowned author.

Alice Stebbins Wells

By October 1912 the Los Angeles Police Department included in their personnel three policewomen and three police matrons. Cities such as New York, Chicago, Seattle, and San Francisco also had women joining the ranks as policewomen. San Francisco’s first three policewomen all named Catherine were known as "The Three Kates." Canada, England, Ireland, and Australia were following close behind in hiring policewomen.

In 1912, Minnie Barton, the second LA Policewoman, offered vocational training in her home to girls on probation or parole. In 1917, she founded the Minnie Barton Home, which evolved into the Big Sister League, now a United Way Agency.

Then in 1916, Georgia Robinson, a governess from New Orleans, who had traveled West on a Wagon Train, was invited to become LA’s first female policewoman of African American descent. An advocate of women and children’s rights she worked closely with the underprivileged. She often brought women and children home for dinner. In 1928, while working the jail, a prisoner shoved Georgia’s head into the jail’s cell bars. This incident eventually caused her to go blind. Georgia continued her social work even after she was forced to retire. She died in 1961 at the age of 78 yrs. It wouldn’t be until 1950, that the first African American female would be appointed to the rank of Sergeant.

Marguerite Curley was appointed in 1920. In 1925, she and Alice Stebbins Wells founded the Los Angeles Policewomen’s Association. Marguerite became the first President of the Association. LAWPOA was founded primarily because the city wished to treat policewomen as civilian employees with no retirement plan. Marguerite would also preside over the Women Police Officers of California Association. A rather large lady in statue, Marguerite would walk a footbeat in San Pedro by herself never failing to return to the stationhouse with someone in tow.

March 1, 1925, Lucile W. Shelton became the second female of African American descent to become a LA policewoman. She died of cancer on July 8th, 1940, at the age of 54 yrs.

May 1928, Mary O’Rourke Ross, a nurse from Baltimore, was appointed LA’s first policewoman of Irish descent. She would go one be the first to be appointed to a Metropolitan Police Department’s Vice Unit in the US. She would also be the first assigned to work with a City, State, and Federal Narcotics Unit. She often worked the gambling ships off the coast of California. After her retirement Mary would be the first woman in California issued a Private Detective Agency License. She also holds the distinction of being the first daughter of a slain officer to be hired by LAPD. Her father a Baltimore PD officer was killed in the Line of Duty when she was only 8 yrs old. And Mary would be the second guest to appear on the TV show, "This is Your Life." Mary died in 1958. She left behind a son, two granddaughters.

Appointed in 1929 to the position of City Juvenile Officer was Elizabeth Fiske. She was elevated to the position of City Mother in March 1930. She would be the second and last City Mother on LAPD.

The third African American policewomen, Juanita Edwards joined the Department in 1929. She died in 1957 at 58 yrs. of age.

By 1930 there were fewer than 35 policewomen on LAPD. Unlike their male counterparts who were hired for their brawn, they were educated and devoted to helping others less fortunate. They wore no uniform or gun, carried a badge, notebook and billyclub, and were restricted to working juvenile and jail with no hope of obtaining rank.

Retired Police Officer Gail Ryan, LAWPOA Historian,

Return to the top
MRS. LUCY GRAY, a widow with 10 children, became the first police matron in 1888 at the age of 48 in Los Angeles

The history of women in Law Enforcement, in particular those of the LAPD, goes back to the late 1880’s when the first police matron, Lucy Gray, was hired.

Mrs. Lucy Gray, a widow with 10 children, became the first police matron in 1888 at the age of 48 in Los Angeles. This was some 32 years before women would be given the right to vote. She would spend the next 16 years living in the City Jail 24/7. Her family would live down the street, cared for by her older daughter. A scant 100 pounds, Mrs. Gray was successful in reforming female offenders and working with juvenile offenders of the day. She also served as a nurse for injured inmates in the jail, both male and female. And she filled in as a detective when a female or juvenile was involved in a case not deemed appropriate for a male officer to handle. Eventually Mrs. Gray’s work load became so great that she was given an assistant, Mrs. Aletha Gilbert, her own daughter. Mrs. Gilbert became head matron in 1904 following her mother’s death. Eventually she became a policewoman and then in 1914 City Mother. She would gain international prominence due to her abilities in dealing with delinquent children and their parents. The City Mother’s Bureau was recognized by Scotland Yard as the first Police Department Crime Prevention Bureau in the world. Her sister, Lorelee Boyle, also became a matron, the 4th, and then a policewoman. They would be the first sisters who served as officers for the LAPD. The 3rd matron was Mrs. Loretta McPeek, who also went on to become a policewoman, followed by the 5th matron Mrs. Elizabeth Feely.

In 1903 Little Nellie Truelove, a staff Captain of the Salvation Army was granted a commission by Mayor Meridith Snyder to wear the nickel star and swing a club as a "special officer". However her activities were confined to the rescue home which she sponsored.

In 1906 Miss Jessie McDonald of the Salvation Army was appointed to the position of a "special officer" to serve without pay by the Police Commission. She was given a police star and authority to apprehend, but no weapons. Miss McDonald was given her commission because she was a matron of the Salvation Army’s house of refuge on Griffith Avenue and her mission was one of mercy for helpless young children and women. In LA’s red light district, she was called a friend by all. And as a trained nurse with police powers she was at liberty to enter the city jail at all times.

Then in 1909 a small preacher from the Indian Territory turned social worker, Alice Stebbins Wells, stood before Mayor George Alexander and the City Council and petitioned to become a sworn policewoman. The petition was passed and on September 12th, 1910 she became LAPD’s 1st sworn policewoman with full arrest powers. She was also the first sworn policewoman in the United States, and in the world. Her badge read Policewoman #1. She went on to literally change history with her views. A tireless crusader, Mrs. Wells toured the country speaking before police and civic groups about the need for women in modern day law enforcement. She helped form the first Los Angeles Policewoman’s Assoc., assisted in organizing Policewomen Conferences in California, and was the first historian on the LAPD, in addition to persuading UCLA in 1918 to offer the first criminology course specifically on the work of women police officers.

By October 1912, there were three policewomen and three police matrons on the Department.

These early women pioneers in law enforcement were the "movers and shakers" of their era. They had to be in their early 30’s, married, and educated in order to be considered for their position. It was not deemed appropriate for a younger unmarried lady to see the seedy side of life.

Return to the top

Contact Us · Home Page

Monday, September 07, 2009