November 25, 2018: As the Met celebrates 100 years of female police officers on the streets of London, its first female commissioner, Cressida Dick, has launched the force’s first recruitment drive aimed at women, in an attempt to reach gender parity in the rank and file. There are now 8,000 women in the Met – 27% of the total number of staff.

Women first joined the Met 100 years ago after the then commissioner, Sir Cecil Macready, announced he was introducing female police officers – known as the womenpatrols – on an “experimental basis”, with low pay and no pension rights.

Read more: 'No better time' for women in Met police – 100 years after the first (www.theguardian.com)