After beating the odds, Brennan fights for others

When Pat Brennan began her career as a police officer in 1976, Philadelphia was a decidedly unfriendly place for a woman in law enforcement. At the time, Frank Rizzo was mayor and Joseph O'Neill was police commissioner. And neither were known for their enthusiasm about women police officers. Eventually, they did allow 100 women -- including Brennan, now the director of the Division of Public Safety's Special Services Department -- to enter the Police Academy. After graduation, however, Brennan discovered that it would be difficult to succeed without the backing of Rizzo and O'Neill. "They made our lives as miserable and unbearable as possible," Brennan said. Not only did the women have to cut their hair short and wear men's uniforms and shoes, they also were not not permitted to ride in patrol cars with male officers. "They were afraid we were going to have sex in the car," Brennan said. The new female officers were also assigned to the six highest-crime districts in the city, according to Brennan. She remembered patrolling her beat on Germantown Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia late one night when a man walking his dog joined her. He walked up and down the street with her for several hours before asking when her shift ended. She said that she still had three hours left, and that he did not have to stay with her. "Yes I do," the man replied. "You'll get eaten alive out here alone." After one year on the job, 30 of the original 100 women who graduated from the academy resigned. Why didn't Brennan join them? "Oh, God, I was too stubborn," she laughed. "Because people told me I couldn't do it, I had to prove them wrong." After four years on foot patrol, Brennan became a detective, a more woman-friendly position. She spent nine years in the Homicide Department before leaving the Philadelphia Police Department to join the Penn Police force in 1996. And in August, Brennan, 49, took over as head of Special Services, after serving as its acting director for almost a year. Special Services investigates "sensitive crimes" -- rape, sexual assault, stalking and hate crimes -- and arranges for the victims to receive physical and psychiatric treatment. "They had several candidates for the job, but she always came to the front as the best candidate," said Det. Jim Blackmore, who has worked under Brennan for a year and a half. "She's very level-headed, very compassionate." And while being a woman was a hindrance at the beginning of Brennan's career in law enforcement, it is now an advantage. "We're more sensitive, we understand women's issues, we understand the complexities of sensitive crimes," she said. "These are just nuances that men would have a hard time picking up on." Brennan's office at Penn Police headquarters is softly lit and furnished all in wood. A Japanese rock garden, potpourri, dishes of candy and vanilla candles decorate the shelves. "This doesn't look like a police officer's office, does it?" Brennan asks anxiously. "Women can feel comfortable coming in here, which is exactly why I keep my office this way -- so they don't feel like they're talking to a police officer," she said.