This weekend, the Vancouver Police Department will be celebrating 100 years of women in the force! In order to honour women in the police force, VPD has unveiled their new exhibit at the Vancouver Police Museum called Women in Policing: 100 Years in the Vancouver Police Department.
It was back in 1912 when the first women constables joined the VPD. Minnie Millar and Lurancy Harris we’re their names, and they opened up a revolution that has lead to the force currently having 343 female officers, which make up 24 percent of the department!
Mary Frazer, 86, a now a retired police officer, joined the force in 1958 when the idea was planted into her mind by a personnel manager at Vancouver City Hall. It took Frazer five years, and three attempts to get accepted into the department. Frazer was 32 when she first started, and she says that she really enjoyed it, and it felt like the department was one big family.
It wasn’t until 1973 that female officers were allowed by the B.C. Police Commission to carry firearms and be assigned regular patrol duties. Prior to that, women officers had to fight for many rights, such as equal pay, and uniforms.
An open house of the exhibit will take place this Saturday from 1 to 5 pm. The museum is located in the former Coroner’s Court Building at 240 East Cordova Street.
