Abstract
The National Center for Women and Policing reported that in 2001, women only represented 12.7% of all sworn officers in large agencies. In addition, they report that this percentage represents a drop from a high of 14.3% in 1999. The intent of the current study is to provide information pertaining to employment motivations, experiences, and attitudes of female law enforcement officers and to provide information regarding the low levels of female representation in this field. A total of 531 female officers responded to a survey mailed out to approximately 2,000 randomly selected female police officers. Respondents reported a variety of information concerning their perceptions about working in law enforcement including their reasons for pursuing policing as a career, reasons that would motivate them to leave law enforcement, and how they perceive they are treated at work compared to their male counterparts.