The first women in police-related work performed primarily custodial tasks, particularly attending women and children awaiting trial. In 1910 the first regularly rated policewoman was appointed. During the two World Wars, women were hired to fill positions left vacant by men, although their duties were still limited. Today, women are found in all aspects of police work and in departments of all types and sizes. Yet despite this, sexual integration has not been completely successful. Few departments have made a total commitment to hire women and to utilize them in all police functions, although numerous evaluations document the effectiveness of female officers in all phases of work, including patrol. The failure to eliminate sexual discrimination is due in part to the nature of social change, especially cultural and structural change such as that needed to mitigate the effects of sex-role stereotyping and related attitudes. In addition, the police organization itself, through specific practices such as job assignments, reflects the way the larger society treats women; and societal attitudes and the social system help perpetuate male police attitudes about the 'masculine' nature of police work. Thus, police departments are both shaped by the social system and contribute to the social structure by reinforcing it. 41 footnotes.