Women in Law Enforcement - Timeline: 1854-2011

In 1854, the first known police matrons (also called jail matrons) were hired by New York City to search and guard female prisoners, but they were civilians with no law enforcement powers. Sarah Hill (pictured) became the second police matron in Davenport, Iowa, hired in 1893. Part of a larger police matron movement in the United States that began in Portland, Maine, in 1878, Matron Hill worked for 27 years to care for female criminals and their children. Police matrons’ duties varied, but they included sheltering and protecting women and children in police custody

National Law Enforcement Museum

Circa 1900

Women in Law Enforcement

Collection of the National Law Enforcement Museum, Washington, DC.

Source: National Law Enforcement, Washington, DC

National Law Enforcement Museum

National Law Enforcement Museum

National Law Enforcement Museum

Photograph

English

History

Timeline

Historic