Tacoma Hires Its First Woman Detective
Helen Beardsley takes the badge to protect vulnerable girls arriving in the city.
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Miss Helen Beardsley, who has been acting as travelers' aid secretary of the Y.W.C.A., was yesterday appointed by Mayor Linck to the position of woman cop recently created by the council. Miss Beardsley will look after girls coming to the city this summer and see that they are not misled by designing scoundrels who may attempt to ply the white slave trade in Tacoma. Her place as travelers' aid secretary of the Y.W.C.A. will be taken by Miss Mary Le Sourd. Miss Beardsley brings to the office of woman detective ready sympathy, genuine womanly tact and practical business ability, combined with a training which fits her admirably for the new position.
“Miss Beardsley will look after girls coming to the city this summer and see that they are not misled by designing scoundrels.”
This appointment reflects the Progressive-era focus on 'moral policing' to protect women's safety, a precursor to modern specialized units tasked with investigating human trafficking. While the language of the time focused on 'white slave trade' panic, the role underscores the long-standing civic struggle to ensure the safety of transient populations in growing urban centers.
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