Thursday, February 11,1982 — THE BULtETIN -
Israeli policewomen fulfill fuirrange of responsibilities
By SANDRA COHEN
The year was 196Q and at 6ne of' Jeriisalein*s busy intersections stood I^raeFs first traffic policewoman. •XJet back to the kitchen,** shouted men from their cars, and, "What a costume! And it isn't even Purim
-■■■yetr v::V"£'v'
Tod^ twenty ©ne years later, 2^68$ pplfcewpm^
^iblei positibin in theifpi^ (ejicept as ^^ppers, dbg/hahcilersi anti^irbt :sqiiiddi^ res^ pect and pride amprig Israelis four million c^^
Kfarking the:2^ of the establishment of th^ first women's police unit, pfira Naybn recently held a reception at the PresidentHouse \yhere iNitzav Mishne Naomi Shadmi,ejo4i^ the wbnien^ poHce junit^ the initial dlpubtsSt'l^esefm^ not only ambng the public, but ailso in the police command, as to whether or npt womer^ we^^
oiit all th^ifficult and dangerous jobs that sSe expected of policemen.
Nb however, _are
evident tpday,^^^^^^ stated^ with wpmen iiri the Israel Police better utilized tjijtii in any fo^ in the worlds *^^|ahpPwer (or wbman-pbwer) should never be wasted^** she sawii **especw^ a country Alfte" ^.isiracl^'^-^'. 'v;^■•.
t>epity Poljee: SpPkeswbman of Jerusalem Central H^dquaiters, RivkiL^ Weinlraul^begah her career in the fprpe 'thiite«n y^ a secretarial job.; It wasiiV with© h£^rd wprk cpupledwith'fptig hours
> that she attained I)iei:pj^a^ tibn. "The single wonian*, straight
-. out of the army,!^hejexpiains, ■'puts in ;<her eigHt-hbur^^hift^^^^ ( Shabbat)v and -jin addition inustbe ayaiteWi?. ibr e^^ during h(>Iidays and State dignitaries; ;
"The more extended difficulties arise for the mamed wpnian with childnreii; If she isn assisted by her husband, if there isn't ajoint effort in running the household and caring for the children, she simply cannot db her job; It cant wprk.^
^ergeaht Major Rachel Bleiman confirniis this with her own^l^ stbry. At thiity, she has been a critninal identification technician wirti the Force for twelve years. Five y^rs ago stie and her husband divbrced; "He simply couldriVtbiiie to terms with my long hours, and equally significant, the dedication to my work. He believed a woman's place is in the home; 1 coiudht accept that. I love my career, I get enormous satisfaction from it. Why should I give it Up?"
cln l^i^, Bleiman;b«^^ first 'poli(^woman photogra^ ber\assigned field wbrk. "Everyone was sceptical,"sherec^lls."But I was determined to prove thiit a <»ii wor^ bcj^
fini assignnieht (to photograph a cbrj[)sb)^^ filled her with dreaded airticip^tibn. **^Here I wasr^ who as a child had been such^ a sdtr^ thiiiig, I wpuidnt ^yen w^tch frightening mbvies — expected to photograph , what would be painfully gniesomer
"Ivdid i^ Somehow I dissQpiated myself from that choking fear. And I remember saying to myself, "If I
havent^ fainted, then J must be strong enough to work at this job. I
knewtrom thatciay that I had passed the tes^.*^
Inadditionlofield work, Bleiman photographs arrested criminals and terrorists, identifies niewly-acquired fingerprints with those filed, and wo^ks. with the identikit*. Queri^
about changes she would like to see in the force, specifically for police* women, she pojiders the question, then candidly replies, "The Department has shown real concern for the policewoman as regards equality between men and wromen in both work conditions and salary. **-/ Rrst Sergeam^ Zippi Kpskas, 25^ and the mother of oiu^ has been a traffic patrolwonuin for the last six yeats^ Expressing satisfaction^with the Pepartment*sspeciar regard for police mothers, (there are 1,414 at
present), she says, "We are given only the morning shift, which enables us to be with our children. This indicates that the Force does care about our families.'*
Indeedi the dedication, enthusiasm and efficiency of the women's poUce luut is a credit to the whole nation. Rivka Weintraub puts her finger ph it: "1 love niy work," she exdainu. "And how many people can honestly say that about their job?" WORLD ZIONIST
PRESSSER^
ISRAELI POLICEWOMEN setlihg on traffic patrol
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