Gertrude Schimmel born as Gertrude Tannenbaum in the Bronx, she was the youngest of three siblings. Ms. Schimmel graduated in 1940 from the police academy in the first full class of policewomen. She broke many glass ceilings along the way especially in the New York Police Department. She ultimately became one of the first two women to become a sergeant and the first to be named a chief. On June 5, 1940 when she officially joined the Bureau of Policewomen she was not allowed to do many things because of her gender, including going out to patrol. In 1943 women were given a black shoulder bag with space to hold a holster and makeup. At the beginning of her career she took part in undercover assignments that dealt with breaking up gambling operations. She then joined the Youth Aid Division where had to care for children whose parents could not. Ms. Schimmel knew that she wanted much more than what she was being given or allowed so in 1961 she helped a fellow policewomen, Felicia Shpritzer sue the city’s Department of Personnel by stating that policewomen were illegally discriminated against because they were denied the right to take the promotional test for sergeant. Micheal J. Murphy, the Police Commissioner argued that women lacked physical strength and endurance so they could not be sergeants however, the city lost the lawsuit. Ms. Shimmel and Ms. Shpritzer took the test and became sergeants in 1965 and were promoted to lieutenants in 1967. Ms. Schimmel became the first woman to be captain when Mayor John V. Lindsay and Police Commissioner Patrick V. Murphy pinned the bars on her uniform at City Hall on August 26, 1971, on the 51st anniversary of the women won the right to vote day. As a captain she helped lay the groundwork for the first assignments of women to street patrol and radio cars, which occurred in 1973. She retired when she was a deputy chief and commander of the Community Affairs Unit. She also wrote a novel called “Joan Palmer, Policewoman” in hopes of encouraging girls to become police officers. Former police officer Schimmel surpassed many obstacles that came her way and so it is important for current and future policewomen to know about the history behind it all.

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