Diversity in Uniform? - Gender and Sexuality within the Berlin Police Force [1]

This article examines the significance of gender and sexuality within the Germanuniformed police. For a long time the police was regarded to be the classicdomain of men, but since some years the police actively tries to employ moreheterogeneous staff. These efforts result in a clear change of personnel: moreand more women are working in the police. It is the aim of this article tofirstly examine in which historical contexts gender and sexuality have beenrelevant categories within the police organisation. Secondly gender andsexuality in organisational theory, especially considering criticism of feministorganizational theory on classical concepts are discussed. Thirdly theories onmicropolitical negotiations, processes of managing gender and sexuality areintroduced and connected to the police. In the following part of this articletwo interview examples are presented and analysed, in which the significance ofsexuality and gender today are discussed by female police officers.