HPD in 1954, women were not allowed to become full-fledged police officers. They wore civilian clothes and were assigned to work in the Juvenile Crime Prevention Division in a separate building across the street from what was then HPD headquarters.

The requirements for women applicants were tougher than for men. Women had to have two years of college and three years’ experience working with children. Male applicants needed only to have gone to high school.

Abreu and the five or so other women on the force struggled to get promotions. Abreu passed the test for sergeant with high scores many times but she was never elevated in rank.

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In 1972, she filed a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She prevailed in 1974 with a class action settlement.

PoliceChief Francis Keala was told to hire women on an equal basis or the city would lose federal funding. The old police badges that said “patrolman” were changed to “officer” and the previous height requirement of 5-feet-8-inches was dropped.

In 1975, Abreu became HPD’s first female detective in the criminal investigation division and women began to apply to become regular uniformed police officers.

But their numbers were still small. When the initial three groups of female trainees made it through the academy, they made up only 1% of the total police force of 1,500 officers.

Former state lawmaker Annelle Amaral was among the first women to don a blue HPD uniform.

Amaral had been a lei greeter at the Honolulu airport when she was accepted into HPD’s second training class.

She built a