1957 Female Meter Police with Policewoman and supervisor Mary Reilly
L-R -Kay Ciprianni, Helen Brannon, Unknown, Officer Mary Reilly, Lauri Nash, Phyliss Fergueson, and Gladis Newsom

THE PROMISE TO PUT WOMEN ON PATROL FELL SHORT
by Jim Gibbs

On July 1, 1972 Chief of Police Parker said he would hire two women as detectives. He also said Police were in the process of screening candidates for 11 new patrolman positions which had been recently authorized by the city council which apparently included women. Parker said, "There are lots of areas of investigation where there's a need for women. People sometimes communicate better to women and there are many crimes involving women,"

Parker said his department is authorized to have six policewomen and has only four. These are primarily jail matrons, he said. But one, Carolyn Carlon, has been working in the juvenile division.

Parker's plan called for one of the new policewomen to be assigned to juvenile and the other to the detective division. And, he said he would ask they be paid the same as the inspectors. Of the 11 patrolman positions, Parker said eight were new and three will be replacements for officers recently assigned permanently at the Reno International Airport.

It is known that in 1972 at least two women were tested and hired by the Reno Police Department. Both tested and accepted employment believing that they were being hired as police officers. The women, Dian Vermillion and Pam Engle were assigned to the jail just as every woman previously hired by the Reno Police.

After the discrepancy in the job role vs the title of policewoman became obvious to the women, both Dian Vermillion and Pam Engle tested for the position of “police officer”. In a society article in the Reno newspaper on January 11, 1973, Pam Engle was featured as a policewoman, said she tested with others in October hopes to go into the field in a patrol car in February and a police academy in March. Neither would happen.

On June 12 1973 there was a report of the transfer of three women to patrol. The report stated, “Dorothy Peterson was promoted from policewoman one to policewoman two and was assigned as a detective in the juvenile division. The other two have been working in the jail. But, on July 1, the status of all three will change in accordance with a new city contract with the police. They will then assume full rank and pay with male patrolmen."

Despite the announcement, the attitude of the Reno Police administration toward women was made clear when Captain Don McKillip said, "None of us really wants to put these women on patrol." However, because of the new equality they now enjoy with male officers, the women have to go out on the streets,"

McKillip said. "Initially, they would ride as second officers with male patrolmen in the paddy wagon. Eventually, the women will handle the same duties as the men in patrol cars."

McKillip also said, "The women will no longer wear skirts, but will get a uniform with trousers like the men. They will also turn in their stubby revolvers for 38s"

McKillip mentioned the trend throughout the nation in so much that there were about 500 women policemen handling regular men's duties throughout the country.

It is not clear if Parker supported the push to put women on the streets or not. I have to assume that he did - rather he liked it or not. But, shortly after Dorothy Peterson was featured riding with training officer Jim Hass, McKillip fell victim to a grand jury’s quest to have him removed from the Reno Police Department

McKillip was fired August 14 by City Manager Joe Latimore based upon the recommendations made by the Washoe County Grand Jury. The grand jury, which had probed operations of the police department for more than a month, accused McKillip of taking city bricks for personal use, taking a policewoman's purse for his wife's use, taking a police car on a pleasure trip to Lake Tahoe and getting a personal loan from a casino operator

The turmoil within the Reno Police Department following the firing and later rehiring of McKillip seems to have disrupted the expressed intend of putting the women in patrol or exposed the true mindset of Chief Parker toward women who took advantage of the distraction.

The hopes of Pam Engle to be moved from the jail to the streets and attend a police academy were dashed when the city rearranged the eligibility list from which new patrolmen was hired. Engle’s name was near the top of those eligible, and was move toward the bottom without any explanation.

In 1974, a complaint was filed with the Nevada Equal Rights Commission by Dian Vermillion and Pam Engle the two Reno policewomen assigned to the jail, accusing the Reno Police department of sex discrimination after their names had been re-positioned on the eligibility list to become “police officers”.

The complaint may have sparked a small amount of thought of showing some sign of equality within the department which brought about the hiring of the Reno Police Department’s first female police cadet.

Chris Williamson an 18-year-old Reno High alum became Reno Police Department's first female cadet in August 1975. “No secretarial job for her”, she said. She wants to be out on the street, packing a .38.

After graduating from Reno High School and working as a service station attendant, Chris Williamson was employed by the police as part-time summer clerical help.

She wanted to become a cadet to see if she really wanted to be a police officer. "It excites me. It's somewhat of a challenge," she said. Little did she know, that it would be more of a challenge than she could have imagined.

Reno Police began the cadet program about 14 years earlier in 1961 after Elmer Briscoe became Chief of Police. The program gave aspiring young officers a chance to learn the job over their maturing years. Cadets had to be 18 to join and must wait until their 21st birthdays to become regular officers. There had never been a female cadet in the program. The cadets were assigned to a variety of jobs in the police station.

Reported to be a slightly-built brunette, Williamson who said she was 5 feet 8 but looked smaller to a reporter. However, she wasn’t worried about handling herself as a police officer.

She passed all the tests for police officer, but admits to having a little trouble with the physical portion of the test. She originally failed the physical agility, but worked out a lot. and passed it in February of 1975

She purchased her own .38-caliber revolver and practiced shooting at the police range.

Christine Williamson would ultimately attend the 9th Northern Nevada Police Academy graduating at the age of 20 in April 1977. Shortly after, she would marry a young police officer named Wade Ybarra. When Chris Williamson -Ybarra turned 21 on August 15, 1977, she was promoted to the rank of policewoman – and --- you guessed it, assigned to the jail.




 enroll through the TMCC was abandoned.