The role of policewomen has changed dramatically over Assistant Commissioner Leanne Close's 25-year career with the Australian Federal Police.
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Assistant Commissioner Close, who was born and raised in Canberra, has worked with major fraud and drug investigations, the AFP College, intelligence, close personal protection, traffic operations, and human resources, where she currently works as a national manager.
Assistant Commissioner Close, and the entire AFP organisation, are using today's National Police Remembrance Day as an opportunity to highlight the contribution that women make to policing across Australia.
Over her long and varied career, which included eight years with ACT Policing, three as deputy chief police officer, Assistant Commissioner Close has seen a marked transformation in the way the AFP treats its female members.
''We've moved away, I guess 30 to 35 years ago, we very much had separate roles for women in policing, where they were focused on working with children, or disadvantaged communities,'' Assistant Commissioner Close said.
''Women were only allowed to work in those roles in that period of time.
''That's certainly changed completely over the last 25 or more years, women are now integrated and getting the same training, salaries.''
The National Police Remembrance Day is a chance for police jurisdictions across Australia to remember officers who have fallen in the line of duty.
The National Police Memorial, completed five years ago in Kings Park near Lake Burley Griffin, will be the site of a memorial service at 5pm.
The names of 750 officers who have been killed on duty adorn the wall of the memorial, including 13 female officers.
Assistant Commissioner Close said women were still a minority in the AFP, making up just 33 per cent of the staff. But she said the strengths that women brought to policing were now being recognised.
''A long, long time ago, even before I joined the AFP, there was this concept that you couldn't send women into a bar brawl, because they'd actually incite people,'' she said. ''We actually find it's completely the opposite, that the tension can actually be diffused.''
A dawn service will also be held in Queanbeyan to mark National Police Remembrance Day.