Woman police officer, Inspector Alice Bertha Clayden, with her three brothers in the yard of Crawford Place Police Station, London W1 -- from left to right, Sergeant Frank Frayn Clayden, Inspector Charles Henry Clayden, and Sergeant Alfred William Clayden. In 1922, during the period of the so-called Geddes Axe when the government of the day reduced the number of policewomen from 112 to 20, Alice Bertha Clayden was put in charge of the 20 who remained, and was the first woman officer to hold the rank of Inspector.