Barbara Kelley

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Barbara Kelley was a British police officer with the London Metropolitan Police. She was the first woman in the country to be promoted to the rank of Detective Chief Superintendent.

In the late 1940s Kelley served as a Detective Constable at West End Central Police Station with Shirley Becke, later to become the first female Commander in the Metropolitan Police. The two officers persuaded their Divisional Detective Inspector to allow them to serve on all cases instead of the limited range of cases (mainly involving women and children) to which women detectives had previously been restricted. This paved the way to full integration of female detectives. By the early 1970s Kelley had reached the rank of Chief Superintendent and was serving in the Murder Squad at Scotland Yard.

[edit] References

• "Policewoman's lot is not an unhappy one", The Times, 29 April 1974