City Patrol Woman

An avid photographer since the age of 12, German-born Ralph “Rudi” Crane moved to the United States in 1941 to pursue his passion. During this time he started as a photographer for the photo agency Black Star, who provided many of the photographs for LIFE Magazine, where he later became a staff reporter in 1951. Mrs. Margaret C. Figge, captured in the background of the photograph, is seated in a New York City park reading an issue of LIFE, which saw its first issue in 1936. Popularized by its high quality photography, LIFE magazine published photo-essays on a number of regional wars, and was a pioneer in photojournalism in New York. 

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, women in the United States began entering into policing and law enforcement positions. In 1937, Local Law No. 61 came into place in the city of New York. This law allowed the police commissioner to appoint women police officers to oversee troubled children, as well as other women who were understood as needing ‘moral protection’. While the first female officer in the New York City Police Department, Isabella Goodwin, was appointed in 1895, the uniform shown in this photograph suggests that it was taken in the 1940s.

This image invites viewers to consider criminality and law enforcement outside of the typical context of adult male offenders and law enforcers. As women and children enter the world of law-breaking and law-enforcement, criminality becomes more complex. Law breaking and law enforcement is understood as operating among all ages and genders, and punishments should therefore fit the crime, not the individual offender. The events shown here invite viewers to expand their understanding of who can be punished, and who can enforce such punishments. 

In the 1920s-1940s, the state of New York began imprisoning children at a higher rate. While the introduction of juvenile courts was originally intended as a reform to rehabilitate youth who needed to be ‘saved’ from a life of crime and delinquency, criminal children at this time were locked in facilities with little access to rehabilitative services. Although it was recognized that delinquent children should be separated from criminal adults, juvenile facilities remained focused on applying harsh punishment to prevent future and more severe delinquent behavior. In this photograph the boy is being punished by the patrolwoman for vandalizing a tree -- this reflects the view of criminal children at the time, which focused on saving them by applying harsh punishments similar to the severity of the adult system. The Patrolwoman shown in this photograph is swiftly and publicly detaining the child, signalling to the child and the larger community that crimes of vandalism will be punished. By capturing these events in a photograph, Crane is able to publicize and advertise the city’s position on crime and delinquency, making it known to the public that crime will always be met with punishment.

Bibliography

1. Crane, R. (n.d.). My Father | LIFE Magazine Photographer Ralph Crane [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/44548980@N00/sets/72157600287407882/ 
2. First issue of “Life” is published. (2009, November 14). Retrieved from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-issue-of-life-is-published
3. Flynn, E. (1938). Local Laws of the Cities in the State of New York Enacted During the Year 1937. J.B. Lyon Company, Printers.
4. Life Magazine [Blog Post]. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Life-magazine
5. Mallett, C. & Tedor, M. (2018). Juvenile Delinquency: Pathways and Prevention (1st Ed.) Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
6. Stewart, A. (2016, August 28). Celebrating 170 Years of Lady Cops [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.amystewart.com/kopp-sisters/celebrating-170-years-of-lady-cops/
7. Stewart, A. (2016, Oct 26). 170 Years of Women Law Enforcement Officers [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.officer.com/command-hq/article/12273560/170-years-of-women-law-enfrcement-officers 
8. The Photography of Ralph Crane. (n.d.). Retrieved from LIFE (external link, opens in new window) 
9. Timnick, L. (1988, March 19). OBITUARIES : Ralph (Rudy) Crane; Life Magazine Photographer. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-03-19-mn-990-story.html