Ann Coulter chimes in about female LEOs ...

[Greybeard]

By Ann Coulter

How many people have to die before the country stops humoring feminists? Last week, a defendant in a rape case, Brian Nichols, wrested a gun from a female deputy in an Atlanta courthouse and went on a murderous rampage. Liberals have proffered every possible explanation for this breakdown in security except the giant elephant in the room -- who undoubtedly has an eating disorder and would appreciate a little support vis-a-vis her negative body image.


The New York Times said the problem was not enough government spending on courthouse security ("Budgets Can Affect Safety Inside Many Courthouses"). Yes, it was tax-cuts-for-the-rich that somehow enabled a 200-pound former linebacker to take a gun from a 5-foot-tall grandmother.


Atlanta court officials dispensed with any spending issues the next time Nichols entered the courtroom when he was escorted by 17 guards and two police helicopters. He looked like P. Diddy showing up for a casual dinner party.


I think I have an idea that would save money and lives: Have large men escort violent criminals. Admittedly, this approach would risk another wave of nausea and vomiting by female professors at Harvard. But there are also advantages to not pretending women are as strong as men, such as fewer dead people. Even a female math professor at Harvard should be able to run the numbers on this one.


Of course, it's suspiciously difficult to find any hard data about the performance of female cops. Not as hard as finding the study showing New Jersey state troopers aren't racist, but still pretty hard to find.


Mostly what you find on Lexis-Nexis are news stories quoting police chiefs who have been browbeaten into submission, all uttering the identical mantra after every public safety disaster involving a girl cop. It seems that female officers compensate for a lack of strength with "other" abilities, such as cooperation, empathy and intuition.


There are lots of passing references to "studies" of uncertain provenance, but which always sound uncannily like a press release from the Feminist Majority Foundation. (Or maybe it was The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, which recently released a study claiming that despite Memogate, "Fahrenheit 911," the Richard Clarke show and the jihad against the Swift Boat Veterans, the press is being soft on Bush.)


The anonymous "studies" about female officers invariably demonstrate that women make excellent cops -- even better cops than men! One such study cited an episode of "She's the Sheriff," starring Suzanne Somers.


A 1993 news article in the Los Angeles Times, for example, referred to a "study" -- cited by an ACLU attorney -- allegedly proving that "female officers are more effective at making arrests without employing force because they are better at de-escalating confrontations with suspects." No, you can't see the study or have the name of the organization that performed it, and why would you ask?


There are roughly 118 million men in this country who would take exception to that notion. I wonder if women officers "de-escalate" by mentioning how much more money their last suspect made.


These aren't unascertainable facts, like Pinch Sulzberger's SAT scores. The U.S. Department of Justice (news - web sites) regularly performs comprehensive surveys of state and local law enforcement agencies, collected in volumes called "Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics."


The inestimable economist John Lott has looked at the actual data. (And I'll give you the citation! John R. Lott Jr., "Does a Helping Hand Put Others at Risk? Affirmative Action, Police Departments and Crime," Economic Inquiry, April 1, 2000.)


It turns out that, far from "de-escalating force" through their superior listening skills, female law enforcement officers vastly are more likely to shoot civilians than their male counterparts. (Especially when perps won't reveal where they bought a particularly darling pair of shoes.)


Unable to use intermediate force, like a bop on the nose, female officers quickly go to fatal force. According to Lott's analysis, each 1 percent increase in the number of white female officers in a police force increases the number of shootings of civilians by 2.7 percent.


Adding males to a police force decreases the number of civilians accidentally shot by police. Adding black males decreases civilian shootings by police even more. By contrast, adding white female officers increases accidental shootings. (And for my Handgun Control Inc. readers: Private citizens are much less likely to accidentally shoot someone than are the police, presumably because they do not have to approach the suspect and make an arrest.)


In addition to accidentally shooting people, female law enforcement officers are also more likely to be assaulted than male officers -- as the whole country saw in Atlanta last week. Lott says: "Increasing the number of female officers by 1 percentage point appears to increase the number of assaults on police by 15 percent to 19 percent."


In addition to the obvious explanations for why female cops are more likely to be assaulted and to accidentally shoot people -- such as that our society encourages girls to play with dolls -- there is also the fact that women are smaller and weaker than men.





In a study of public safety officers -- not even the general population -- female officers were found to have 32 percent to 56 percent less upper body strength and 18 percent to 45 percent less lower body strength than male officers -- although their outfits were 43 percent more coordinated. (Here's the cite! Frank J. Landy, "Alternatives to Chronological Age in Determining Standards of Suitability for Public Safety Jobs," Technical Report, Vol. 1, Jan. 31, 1992.)

Another study I've devised involves asking a woman to open a jar of pickles.

There is also the telling fact that feminists demand that strength tests be watered down so that women can pass them. Feminists simultaneously demand that no one suggest women are not as strong as men and then turn around and demand that all the strength tests be changed. It's one thing to waste everyone's time by allowing women to try out for police and fire departments under the same tests given to men. It's quite another to demand that the tests be brawned-down so no one ever has to tell female Harvard professors that women aren't as strong as men.

Acknowledging reality wouldn't be all bad for women. For one thing, they won't have to confront violent felons on methamphetamine. So that's good. Also, while a sane world would not employ 5-foot-tall grandmothers as law enforcement officers, a sane world would also not give full body-cavity searches to 5-foot-tall grandmothers at airports.


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[dolanp]

Sounds about right. I'm all for women having equal opportunities for jobs, but if they are small and relatively weak they should not be escorting huge violent criminals around by themselves. It's just common sense. I wouldn't put a 5-foot 120lb male in charge of him either!

[BobCat]

She is right about the feminists, but there is no evidence that a lone male officer, of average size and training, would have had any better luck restraining the perpetrator in this case.

The guy was an athlete, is very large, and apparently highly motivated. I think having restraints (handcuffs etc.) and two escorting officers, of whatever gender, would have prevented his grabbing the gun.

Ann's column is analogous to the whinings of the left when the CHL holder died protecting innocent people in Tyler recently. They claimed that having a gun was likely to "cause" a person to get shot - therefore no one should have a gun.

Both cases are people using a tragedy to advance their political views/agends. The fact that I agree with Ann Coulter (about militant feminists) does not blind me to her cynical use of this event for her own purposes.

Very interested in your (y'all's) comments.

Regards,
Andrew

[Paladin]

I think it's obvious that Brian Nichols needed at least 2 guards and restraints.

Having one 5ft grandmother escort a rapist was a recipe for disaster.

One observation from seeing how the Harris County courtbuilding works, is that a lot of the people working there are very casual about being around violent criminals. They do it every day and often don't have the proper respect for dealing with these kinds of criminals.

One woman I talked to in the building made jokes about a bailiff who wore a bulky ballistic vest. I just shook my head at her ignorance.

The ACLU also seems to have really cut down on the restraints they are allowed to use on defendants in court. To the point where convicted murderers are generally not restrainted during sentencing!!!

[Chris]

Having one 5ft grandmother escort a rapist was a recipe for disaster.

you have no idea how often that happens. i used to work in a county jail as a deputy sheriff. the unit i was assigned to housed over 800 inmates; most of them were recidivists, or repeat felons. i worked with several tiny females in their late 50s-60s. most of them did more harm than good. they couldn't be firm or strict with them. one female was in her 70s. i'd take her as a backup on the street. she was the first sworn female police officer for the city of fort worth. she was a great person and wouldn't tolerate anything. she was hardcore.

we have a female officer now that won't carry department issued rifles or shotguns because they're "too powerful." she does pretty good, but one of these days, she's going to get herself in a bind. a couple of females at a neighboring department have that little man syndrome. they usually instigate more than they resolve.

some use gender as an excuse to act one way or another. the ones who don't are the ones who make good officers. and regardless of size, they could whoop many of us here. there are a lot of good female officers out there, but there are just as many who don't belong behind a badge.

on the other hand, there are some male officers i'd like to see find cushy office jobs too; for my safety anyway.

[OverEasy]

Hi,
Paladin made a good point about the ACLU stuff. The defendants have to be neat and clean, all dressed up and without restraints so that the jury won't be influenced negatively by thier appearance. If that guy had been properly cuffed and in leg irons, one small officer might have been enough but probably not.

Something else to think about: We have to show up for jury duty but we are prohibited from CC in a court. This and the Tyler incident make me a little nervous about doing my civic duty.

I'm in favor of equal opportunity for everyone. But I beleive that ability to do the job should be the test. I think you need a"tough person" for a "tough job". God Bless all of you that do those "tough jobs" and thank you for getting up every day and doing it!

[Greybeard]

As an aside, lady friend told me yesterday that she read in the paper that the deputy was not armed at the time. Nichols took her keys and got gun from locked box.

[Jungle Work]

Put on the Red Man Suits and see how the Ladies hold up. It has been my experience, not very well. Although some of the best partners I had were women, but as a good woman, they knew their limitations.

Just as I knew mine.

Jungle Work

[Baytown]

I have no problem working with female officers. Most of the one I work with would poke your eye out with a stick and not think twice. I can't stand the femanazis, they should understand that sometimes people are not qualified for certain jobs and just let it be.

Glenn