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 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; and the state of valuing d ...

in the Hawaiian police force. In 1972 she sued the Honolulu Police Department 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 capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

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 Honolulu Police Department 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, 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 Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from

Chaminade University of Honolulu Chaminade University of Honolulu is a private Marianist university in Honolulu, Hawaii. Founded in 1955 by the Society of Mary, Chaminade is located in Kaimuki, Honolulu at the base of St. Louis Heights. Chaminade offers bachelor's degrees in ...

, 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 th ...

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

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

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