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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1974-06-06, Page 17Crossroods r+ weekly hems la Tear Sumer, WittShoss Advitecs. TIMM and Monst Fat Cie. deride ki reed people in the "heartland el Midwest Irl►, (Bed 3 readers 1eavh et 8.30 ben esol 1. iG Published 'wiry ry wed in The LiStowei Banner, Tho Wince Advanc 4T mus and The Meuet. Forest tonfederate by Wenger Bro . Limited. hotos by Dav p r� nger What do you sa y to shady OPP officer who has just pulled you over forexceeding the speed limit? t For s r - a past 65 years we've never\hadthe opportunity to find out, but now 'we do, Andhopefully you will say the same thing as you: would to a male officer .. " . fly, for' heaven's sake, try to re- mernber that .she is .a lady! A few weeks ago, Mary Ann Burns of RR 6, Mount Forest, was a clerk stenographer at the Mount Forest detachment- of. the Ontario Provincial, Police. Now, She. .is a probationary OPP Officer! "Instead, of being on the re- ceiving end of reports, now I will be making thein out," she says. "In other words, I'll be getting in on the action." Mary, Ann is just one of 16 women who were recently ac- cepted into the probationary staff of the OPP and thereby "in on the action". " Prior to May 23, the names 'of ' , ten females who were accepted were released. On that date, six more names were released and OPP headquarters in Toronto re- ported it proposes to hire a total of 45 women onto the force during the first year of the policewomen. program. For the past 65 years, the OPP officers have been males only, making the first 16 girls accepted history -makers! MisS Burns says, "The whole province is watching us to see how we do." Nothing could be. more true, Naturally, whenever someone does something for the first time in history, all eyes are fixed on him. The world watched clo§eiy when the first female doctors, set up practice. It took a good look when women first ran for public office. And there can be no doubt there is great interest now that they are undertaking one of the most ilnportant jobs ever fa- shioned: policing: This is not to say, however, that these Chosen 16 girls are the first to ever undertake policing. Many y American and Canadian cities have had policewomen for quite some time. Toronto, for instance, has had policewomen since 1913, long be- fore the amalgamation in 1967 of the thirteen separate . Toronto police forces that now comprise the Metro Toronto Police •l+ orce. However, the .QPP's first 16. girls are the first provincial policewomen, a completely dif- ferent type of police force from city forces. PROBATIONAIRY POLICEWOMEN: The ten girls who names were first released • are : Cheryl Frances.Baker of St. Catharines, Mary Margaret Brock of. Credi- ton, Nancy Jane Grossmof Toronto;'Joan Catherine Loftus of Toronto, Sandra Watters of Sud- bury, Vera Ilona Rewald of Dundas, Brenda Jayne Stuart of Windsor, Wendy Joyce Wilson of Parry Sound, ,:ICatherypr Jeeps, Macrow of London and MOO Burns : Mount.Porest The girls so whosenames es We rs later announced are Debora Lee Caswell, Gracia Dodson and Wendy Colleen Etherington,all o f Toronto, Judith 'Louise Hulsman of Belleville, Brenda Gayle Lay-. cock of Toronto and Patricia Rita;' Osman of Foothill. On May 27 the 16 girls began their recruitment course in.. Toronto. The course, which was previously three weeks in dura",!L' tion, was lengthened to four weeks recently. After the course ,the probation*: ary police officers will be posted at a detachment for approxi,•.- mately six months; followed by six -weeks course at Aylmer. After this they again return to the detachment,, followed by a second . ' and final six -weeks course ice; Aylmer. This would complete tie, one-year probationary period. M` Is the pressure of being one of, the first women accepted as rt::. OLD JOB LMary.Anh finishes up thelast of her work as a stenographer for Sgt'. P. Kreklewich in the detachment office at Mount Forest on her last Friday as a civilian. The • staff gathered in the afternoon to present her with a small present and some farewell remarks. NEW ENVIRONMENTFrom a desk to a cruiser is going ►tel be a big step for Mary Ann and she takes a look at the workinga of the cab as Provincial Constable l :,:King 6x. its operation. She says she is "looking forward to the responsibility" of her work and handling the equipment. • probationary officer with the experience with one, One of the firm 4116stions that comes to mind when we .hear of female police officers , is, "Can they 'handle situations in which they may face unruly lawbreak- ers?" Miss Burns, says. "being dis- creet" is probably one of the better ways to handle situations OPP affecting Miss Burns? "It's affecting others more than me, right now. It's just suddenly dawning on me now that it is new ground ?`for womenand more specifically, for me." She says, "The responsibility and reality of policing will prob- ably really sink in' once I'm through the recruitment course."" Miss Burns hadn't }call thought about beingi- a police off!- } cer before she applied in March, but now that she has been ac- cepted, she thinks it's great and adds "I like the idea • The reason she had never seri- ously considered police work with the OPP before, she says, is. be- cause "the field only „recently opened up for women 'when the force announced. in February it would accept applications from ,females." Now, 'over 1,000 applications have been received by the force ;from 'women. Constable Harold Tighe, Safety, and Informations: Officer with the Mount Forest detachment, says he believes the reason there has been no fertiale' OPP officers for the past 65 years' is ``there were' not that many women who had a desire to try police work, at least, not to the knowledge qf, the force." What is his opinion of the recent acceptance of women into the force? "I think they will be able ,btu play, a b g pl m the iolp He says they will be trained the same as. men, "although a little more emphasis may be placed on self-defence- training: "Theywill carry guns, hand- cuffs and billy .clubs and be taught how to handle them all safely and properly." Miss Burns says the: idea of carrying weapons doesn't bother her. She has shot a handgun .a few times but has no extensive Featur sigory �+a► r? McCann in Which an officer 18 confronted, for example, with a drunk driver. "Each. new experience ;creates some apprehensiveness in every- one, she says, "and I will prob- ably be apprehensive about each phase of policing became it is all a new experience to me." But, as she admits, she can only imagine so far about- the "tight squeezes" arid possible violence that may confront her as a policewomen. "I don't know what it will be like until I get into that type of situation." METRO POLICEWOMEN: Inspector Ferne Alexander, Metro Toronto policewoman for 22 years, does not have to imagine what it's like. She knows. "I've worked on the street long enough to know that being a woman police officer is no disad- vantage. I don't think the age of chivalry is dead, for one thing," she says. "People do not respect us less because we're women in police work. Police officers represent Jaw Oforqillet.4.t .they. are, male or em a and most people respect that." Inspector Alexander is one of 63 policewomen on the Metro force, most of . whom work in the juvenile division. She" says ;policewomen have been on the force for some time, but were not great in number until about 1959, when most of the current number joined. In some areas of police work; such as juvenile work, women do the same :duties as men, although not many women are assigned initially to the petrol, forces, as are men. Some uniformed policewomen function as a 'pool on call 24:hours per day, seven days a week, for emergency short notice work. Inspector Alexander says she would recommend police work for women'. "gven on my worst days I can't think of anything I'd rather do," She says she is lust; delighted" about, the recent acceptance of women officers into the OPP. The Metro policewomen are • also engaged in some undercover assignments and their police training is exactly the same as it is for men, although they do not carry firearms, differing from • the OPP female officers in this respect. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS: The minimum requirements for women before they can apply for OPP training . , are: height 5'4"; weight 110 pounds; educa- tion Grade 12; good eyesight (no glasses) and a driver's licence. They should also be between the ages of 21 and 35. ' After an application has been filled out, a girl attempting to get into the OPP must write apre-re- cruitrnent examination..consist- ing consist-ing mainly of an. IQ test and an essay on one of six suggested topics involving police work. The essay mustbe.5Ao Words in length ti°d• written in-f4n.hour.. less. How will police work change a woman's personal .life? Miss Burns says, "Probably about' -the same as male officers. We'll have to gain and maintain respectabi- lity privately and publicly to adhere to the respected reputa- tion of the OPP." For the past seven months she has been a clerk -stenographer. Now, with the sudden switch to OPP officer, how have her Crossroads writer fells all! "How I deal with pain" parents" ac c"epted'the idea? ;mss M teBuoldecils who h l% dt t re,;Ma' yaForestareafor 1y'and "At first my root cer d a lou t ' t of work,t be too dangerous epd if it were suitable for me, but, once she realized how much I wanted to do, It, she accepted it immediately'! her father,who e the' iEmmed ately sand. her mother are: su . lt�� ' M�G'3' .Ann's ` aspirations pl etely. RECRUITMENTCOURSE: , The `four-week ree uitment course,; ororientation program . , it :is often referred to, consists of . an' introduction to the Bim, what the force expects o its seers, first-aid training, self-defence and firearm training and an ex - Planation of report procedures and handling, of paperwork, The hocnou temcevopnrfte fi.ns hat emminphnohwefafony(Em; rsaefna fence . ` training, according to OPP .' Toronto headquarterpokesb, man. The color scheme '`,of `.;the women's uniforms will remain the same as their male 'counter parts, although the style may vary a little. The female officers will have a choice skirts and -or pants. A purse, 'which. will lie issued with the uniform,' may, ;take the place ofthe ilsual, holster. . and belt lo that it will bbl se the ..firearm,altho ha tb .l a ras yet, nkt been determined - offi- cially. What do you say to a lady,OPP officer? Well, now, for the first time in the history of the force, you just may be able to find out, "What's a nice girl like you doing/ in a job like this?", is a little "too corny, so, try to forget that}one. But, whatever the occasion on which you are speaking to her, let's hope it isn't in the line of business! Doctors love us. Nurses adore us. We're the bold breed. No matter how hard the lumps. No matter how acute the pain. We don't flinch nor bat an eye. And we never, never, NEVER cry! His sympathetic eyes glanced softly upward and, in a barely audible, almost apologetic tone, the doctor cautioned, "Your ankle may be broken." "Hah" I threw back my brazen blonde head and laughed }laugh.: tily. "Don't worry, Doc. I can take it. Why, I remember when, back in the depression ... " (my own little personal depression oc- curred in 1958 when the family ' television broke down and was in the repair shop' for two whole weeks.) Yeah, I flashed my fearless grin (something t practised often Please turn to Page 2 "One brute held my leg while the other wrenched it, first clockwise, then, counter -clockwise."