Fighting Crime And City Hall: The First Women to Walk a Beat in Indianapolis

On June 15, 1918, 14 women from diverse backgrounds took an oath to protect and serve the citizens of Indianapolis, Indiana on the steps of City Hall. A war was on and manpower was short. Vice was rampant in the city and policewomen were needed to help curb it. For the next four years, the "Department of Policewomen" in Indianapolis worked undercover to combat bootlegging, shoplifting, juvenile delinquency and vice, making hundreds of arrests. In 1922, they were told to arm themselves. This book, researched and written by Patrick Pearsey, archivist of the current Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, tells the life stories of these and the women who followed them into police work and the battles they fought against their police chiefs, the Board of Safety and City Hall.