Busting the Brass Ceiling: How a Heroic Female Cop Changed the Face of Policing

From the Back Cover\nFanchon Blake didn't understand what she was getting into when she filed a discrimination complaint against the LAPD with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1973. And she sure didn't realize that the complaint--and she--would make history for women and minorities. She just knew that she would never be able to change the LAPD's discriminatory culture from within. So she sued, thereby initiating one of the country's landmark Title VII cases with little to no help from anyone. That betrayal of the LAPD's codes of silence and loyalty, however, would not go unpunished. Despite the ensuing verbal abuse, silent treatment, and intimidation, she pushed on. Seven years later, her heroic efforts would finally make it possible for women to bust through the brass ceiling.
"Fanchon Blake has been a hero of mine for many years. The class action [she] spearheaded helped end institutionalized sexual and racial discrimination practices not just in the LAPD, but law enforcement in general. Because of the precedent it set in Civil Rights law, Fanchon's crusade for women's rights has impacted--and improved--workplaces across the country. We owe her our respect and our gratitude."
Joseph Wambaugh
Bestselling author of fictional and non-fictional books about policing\nFanchon dreamed of becoming a top cop. She knew she was going places. She had already made a mark in the Army. Why not try a career in law enforcement? In 1948, she joined the LAPD, sure her efforts and talent would be rewarded. Instead, despite long hours and high achievement ratings, she—like all the other women—was not allowed to promote. It got worse from there.\nOver the years, the tenacious police officer tried to challenge the increasingly discriminatory agenda from within. Then she went to the press. When those efforts failed to effect change, she realized there was one last way to try and prevent the LAPD from tacitly becoming an all-white boy’s club. Someone would need to take them to court, and that someone might as well be her.\nWould a lawsuit be the tipping point in establishing equality within the police force? And once Fanchon sued the department, what repercussions would she face for breaking its codes of silence and loyalty?