Following an introductory chapter, chapter 2 provides an overview of the ongoing theoretical debates about the study of gender and organizations, with a focus on the work of Acker (1990, 1992). The chapter emphasizes the way in which gender is socially constructed and institutionalized within the police organization. Chapter 3 contributes to debates about organizational change in policing by considering the concept of "change" through an analysis of the gendered effects of change through the doctrines of "quality" and "equality." In addressing senior policewomen's experiences of organizational life, chapter 4 examines the "making" of police leaders and the processes involved in achieving a leadership position. Chapter 5 explores the ongoing processes of performing police leadership, based on an investigation of how women in police leadership positions view themselves both as women and as organizational members. In examining some of the resources that exist in the police organization to promote women to leadership positions, chapter 6 considers the extent to which senior policewomen are actively working to make gender and equality issues visible and central to police organizational agendas. A central argument of the book is that women in police leadership positions are promoting a different kind of police leadership that uses more consultative and holistic styles in contrast to traditional autocratic styles of police management. 588 references