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| 1909 |
First
powers to regulate street traffic, parades and processions. |
| 1911 |
First
police motorcycles, to enforce the 15mph speed limit. |
| 1913 |
First
policewomen join the service. |
| 1922 |
First
patrol cars. |
| 1923 |
First
bulletproof vest were issued in 1923 to Detectives. |
| 1925 |
First
electric traffic control signal installed downtown, at Yonge and Bloor. |
| 1935 |
First
in-car radios (one-way only, from dispatcher to car). |
| 1939 |
First
visits to schools to deliver traffic safety information, a precursor of
today s presenta-tions on everything from drugs to streetproofing. |
| 1952 |
First
use of a helicopter by police, to search for the notorious Boyd Gang of
bank robbers. |
| 1953 |
First
radar system for traffic enforcement. |
| 1957 |
First
civilian governance, with the formation of the Metropolitan Toronto Board
of Commissioners of Police, chaired by Judge Charles O. Bick. |
| 1968 |
First
in-house computer is installed for processing law enforcement data. |
| 1973 |
First
link with the Canadian Police Information Centre in Ottawa, making Toronto
the first city police service to con-nect to this database of wanted people
and vehicles. |
| 1977 |
First
R.I.D. E. program (for Reduce Impaired Driving in Etobicoke, where it
began). |
| 1982 |
First
use of the 9-1-1 emergency system. |
| 1982 |
First
civilian chief Administrative Officer, with a rank comparable to Deputy
Chief. |
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She
had to be 25-30 and well educated. She had to live near No. 1 Station, to
respond promptly to calls. She searched women who had been arrested, and attended
to them while they awaited court appear-ances. She was the Police Matron,
and the first was a Mrs. Whiddon in 1887.
That began a rich history of women in the police service, though it was not
until 1913 that Mary Minty and Maria Levitt became Toronto's first policewomen.
Along with deal-ing with female prisoners, they supervised dance halls (“where
their visitations have a good moral effect”), and handled the regulation of
fortune tellers.
Still, this was progress. After the original policewomen retired in 1919,
three more were hired. In 1921, another two were appointed. They were assigned
more and more responsibilities gradually. By 1933, policewomen were an integral
part of the Morality Bureau, participating in under-cover investigations.
When the Women's Bureau
and the Youth Bureau were estab-lished in 1958, they were staffed almost entirely
by
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female officers, and were
instrumental in allowing women to gain experience and demonstrate their competence.
The fight for quality in the service has been steady, if slow. In 1945, the
pay scale finally became the same for women as it was for men. In that year
women adopted the proper blue uniforms and the range of duties became more far-reaching.
Women didn't ride in scout cars until 1959. In 1960, policewomen changed their
hats to the derby style, after being mistaken for stew-ardesses and transit
guides. Until 1972, a policewoman who had a baby had to resign. It was only
in 1974 that police-women were even armed for the first time - carrying their
revolvers in specially designed handbags.
Today, women serve in every facet of policing, and in the most senior positions.
From the days when a handful of officers made up the female contingent, there
are now over 600 female officers, over 12% of the total. Women also com-prise
more than half of civilian staff. It has been a long, inter-esting and rewarding
ride since the days of Mrs.Whiddon. |
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