THE AGE of political correctness and so-called affirmative action has finally arrived as the reaction to remarks by the Chief of Police about women officers weakening the force illustrated. All the politicians took exception to the views expressed by Police Chief Charalambos Koulentis, trying to play down the problem by resorting to platitudes about sexual equality and exploiting women officers’ strengths rather than focusing on their weaknesses.
Koulentis’ political superior, Justice Minister Sophoclis Sophocleous, came up with a classically diplomatic response, saying that the question was whether we wanted a “strong-armed” police force or one that was well-trained and intelligent. Knowledge was, on many occasions, superior to muscle-power, he said. We should perhaps ask the minister whom he would rather have protecting him if there was a bunch of violent hooligans heading in his direction, a group of well-educated women officers or a couple of strongly-built policemen?
But this is not really the issue, which was very clearly set out by Koulentis. The problem is that more women than men pass the police entry exams, which means that the number of women in the force would be constantly increasing, as there is no limit on the number of female police officers as there is in many other countries. With the numbers of women in the force rising, the chief fears, that there would not be adequate numbers officers for operational duties.
He did not say this because he was a sexist, but because he recognised, from his experience, there would be a serious problem in the future. It is well known to the chief and his political superiors that most women officers refuse to do operational jobs – investigative work, patrols etc – and shift work, insisting that they do desk jobs during office hours. If, one day, 50 per cent of the police force consists of women who would be going after criminals doing night patrols etc? This is what Koulentis, understandably, is afraid of, given that women applicants do better than men in entry exams.
In a well-run police force, women who refused to do shift-work or take up a post in an operational unit would be dismissed, but this is Cyprus in which it is almost impossible to sack anyone from the public sector. Even if the police command tried to sack insubordinate policewomen, it would be attacked by the politicians, the media, trade unions and women’s groups for sexual discrimination. In short, the police command is in a no-win situation, which is why Koulentis should be congratulated for speaking out, despite knowing that his political incorrectness would make him very unpopular.
The fact is that the police force does need officers with muscle-power who are willing to work unsocial hours and perform whatever duties they are assigned. Most women, as experience has shown, are not suited for any police duties other than desk jobs, of which there is a limited amount. This is why there should be a limit on the number of women hired by the force, as is the practice in many European countries. The politicians should heed Koulentis’ warning if they do not want to destroy the police force.
