Lucile Abreu (September 20, 1920 – August 30, 1996) was an American police officer, known for her work promoting

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...

in the Hawaiian police force. In 1972 she sued the

Honolulu Police Department The Honolulu Police Department (HPD) is the principal law enforcement agency of the Honolulu County, Hawaii, City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, headquartered in the Alapa'i Police Headquarters in Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu CDP. Officially re ...

for discriminatory hiring and promotion practices; the suit was settled in her favor. As a result of her lawsuit the Honolulu Police Department changed their hiring policies.

Early life

Lucile Abreu was born in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

on September 20, 1920. After she married Frank Abreu, she began attending a university, after which she hoped to work with children with mental illnesses. Abreu quit studying after she was hired by the

in 1953.

Career

In the police department she worked at the Juvenile Crime Prevention Division (the only unit where women were allowed). She passed the sergeant's test 67 times, but was never promoted because she was a woman, and did not meet the minimum height requirement of . Abreu first filed a complaint with the

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal agency that was established via the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to administer and enforce civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. The EEOC investigates discrimination ...

, and then a lawsuit in 1972, which in 1975 was resolved in her favor. The suit led to the Honolulu Police Department allowing women to hold the same jobs as men, and to abolish their minimum height requirement of . Police badges were also changed to read "officer" instead of "patrolman". After the lawsuit, having newly graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from

Chaminade University of Honolulu Chaminade University of Honolulu is a private Marianist university in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. Founded in 1955 by the Society of Mary, Chaminade is located in Kaimuki, Honolulu at the base of St. Louis Heights. Chaminade offers bachel ...

, Abreu was promoted to become Honolulu's first female

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

, and assigned to a newly created unit for the investigation of

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

Personal life

Abreu retired in 1978. She died of cancer on August 30, 1996.

References

External links

Lucile M. Abreu
in the Honolulu Police Department Hall of Fame {{DEFAULTSORT:Abreu, Lucile 1920 births 1996 deaths American women police officers Honolulu Police Department officers People from Honolulu American police detectives Chaminade University of Honolulu alumni