FANCHON BLAKE joined the LAPD in 1948 and walked a beat in a skirt and heels for three years. Her ambition to rise in the ranks would be curtailed by an increasingly discriminatory agenda, but her relentless tenacity finally led to a promotion to sergeant nineteen years later.

When LAPD policy barred her from rising any further and threatened to eliminate women from the department, she sued. The historic case would change the face of policing around the country.

“Fanchon Blake has been a hero of mine for many years. She single-handedly initiated one of the country’s landmark Title VII cases. Her contribution to the equality of women and other minorities in law enforcement is immeasurable. The class action that Fanchon spearheaded helped end institutionalized sexual and racial discrimination practices not just in the LAPD but in law enforcement in general. Because of the precedent it set in civil rights law, Fanchon’s crusade for women’s rights has impacted—and improved—workplaces across the country. We owe her our respect and our gratitude.”

– Joseph Wambaugh – #1 New York Times bestselling author of police and crime books and a former LAPD police officer, who has written the book’s foreword

“What Frank Serpico did to blow the lid off corruption in the NYPD, the late Fanchon Blake did to expose sexual discrimination and harassment in the LAPD by filing her historic suit in 1973. This book brings Fanchon Blake’s previously unpublished memoir to life. Blake’s stories of decades-long mistreatment of LAPD women cops are chilling, her indictment of the LAPD searing. Both an absorbing memoir and disturbing look inside police abuse of power against its own officers.”

– Connie Fletcher – New York Times bestselling author of What Cops Know, Breaking and Entering: Women Cops Talk about Life in the Ultimate Men’s Club

“It was my great privilege to be mayor of Los Angeles at the time Fanchon Blake won her suit against the Los Angeles Police Department. Fanchon made great strides for equal rights for all of the employees of this city. I admire her courage and tenacity, her willingness to see this ordeal to a successful conclusion. Having experienced discrimination myself, I identified with Fanchon’s experiences and trauma when she challenged the system. It’s a riveting story and one that needs to be told.”

– Tom Bradley – 38th Mayor of Los Angeles from 1973 to 1993 and a former LAPD officer

AUTHORS

Fanchon Blake

FANCHON BLAKE joined the LAPD in 1948 and walked a beat in a skirt and heels for three years. When LAPD policy barred her from rising any further and threatened to eliminate women from the department, she sued… MORE HERE

Linden Gross

LINDEN GROSS is a bestselling writer. She also functions as a writing coach and an editor, helping other people to write their nonfiction books and novels… MORE HERE