A review of 44 studies and references on women in police work showed that for a long time women who had gained access to employment in law enforcement did so only in a very limited sense. It was not until the 1960s that women began to be assimilated fully into the ranks of patrol officers for the first time. With the passage of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the amended version in 1972, which included federal, state, and local governments, women finally gained access to jobs in the criminal justice system on equal ground with men. Many of the institutional barriers such as physical strength tests which had prevented women from gaining entrance into law enforcement were eliminated in the 1970s. The slow progression of women's integration into law enforcement may be explained by the fact that administrators have been slow to adapt to structural changes in how law enforcement interacts with society in general. The entrenched belief that superior physical strength is necessary for police work has been discredited in numerous recent studies, as modern law enforcement has become community and human-service oriented. This orientation is highly congruent with female law enforcement officers' policing style, which stresses conflict resolution. Implementation of community-based law enforcement policies should provide police agencies with an opportunity to make wider use of the capabilities of women officers. (KC)