By J. Edward Pawlick 

April 13 -- When a male cop in Lowell yelled, "Female officers are useless," how did this show progress? 

 It's "progress" because many of the women in that police force are now quoted in the Lowell Sun as saying that women are different than men.  That's the first time we've heard such a statement since the days of Archie Bunker in the early 1970's when anyone who said anything like that was quickly labeled a "chauvinist pig." 

 One of the policewomen in Lowell noted, "What we lack in physical strength, we make up for in other things."   Another indicated that policing today is 90% communication, and she added this comment, "When it comes to communication skills, we can hold our own with anybody." 

 The president of the International Association of Women Police stated it clearly.  "Women can't go in there and be tough guys."  She explained that they have other talents, including the fact that relationships between police departments and their communities improve as women are added to the force. 

 That's the good part.  But even though they have stated clearly that women are better than men in many ways, there still is no recognition that men too are superior in their own areas of expertise. 

 The male cop who yelled that women are useless may not have expressed his thoughts very skillfully (we will all agree that he lacks "communication skills"); but from his point-of-view, many of those officers probably are "useless" for various assignments for which he may be excellent.  Until we acknowledge that men and women are different, we are going to continue to have problems. 

 The woman officer has filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.  Does anyone believe this will bring this unit together as a team? 

 I am certain that if someone sat down with these two, they could make some sense out of the situation.  But now they have called in the lawyers and the polarization will intensify and get nasty.  That will make many ideologues very happy.  And possibly the woman will become rich. (Certainly her lawyer will become richer and the taxpayers of Lowell will become  poorer, including the women.) 

 The police chief has decided that the next eight officers will all be women.  The Sun reports, "The new officers will begin patrolling city streets by December," and they will be expected to meet the same standards as male officers.  The women officers are concerned that everyone will believe that qualifications have been lowered for them.  And we all know that "everyone" will be correct because the new recruits will not meet the same physical requirements as the men. 

 Will we ever come back to the commonsense statement that every woman knows is true:  Men and women are different and as the French say, Vive la difference? 
 
 We all agree that there should be women on the Lowell police force, but we must stop pretending that they will be able to perform every function that a man can or vice versa. 
 

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