4,000 women are set to join Iran's police in the upcoming months, the first time the Islamic republic's security forces will be taking on fully-trained female officers, press reports said on Monday.
"Their training will soon be finished and they will be ready to join the police offices before the end of the Iranian year (March 21, 2003)," said Hassan Zakeri, a police administrator in Yassuj, located in southern Iran.
"Considering religious matters and that there are about 35 million women in our society, we felt the need to employ women as police officers," he was quoted as saying.
According to AFP, the official further said the recruits would primarily work in crime prevention.
Up to now, Iranian police have only employed women for the strictly limited task of performing body searches of female suspects, which male officers are not allowed to conduct. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
