Share of women in state police has flatlined in last 20 years

Stateline map; click to enlarge or here for interactive version.

State troopers are a key element of law enforcement in rural areas, and not too many of them are women. While many professions once dominated by men have seen increasing numbers of women in recent years, that's not true of state police, Lindsey Van Ness reports for Stateline.

Women made up 6 percent of the average state police force in 2000. By 2020 that number had risen to 7%, according to a Staeline's analysis of Bureau of Justice Statistics data. Fewer than 13% of full-time police officers in the U.S. are female. That matters on a practical level, as high-profile police violence cases have led to calls for reform, Van Ness reports.

"As a national reckoning over law enforcement practices unfolds, research shows that women are less likely to use force, are named in fewer complaints and get better outcomes for some victims. Some state agencies are looking to recruit more women to change not only who is doing the policing, but also how their departments police," Van Ness reports. "Policing experts attribute the low rate of women overall to reasons that include stereotypes about the profession, the demands of training, patterns of sexism and harassment, and the perpetual lack of women to serve as mentors."