L. M. Gillespie
L. M. Gillespie was one of the first women police officers to be employed by the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She had previously partnered with Mary D. Diehl to rescue more than two thousand women and girls who had become victims of human trafficking. Biography Prior to her recruitment by the city of Philadelphia, Gillespie and Mary Diehl had been working as agents of the Travelers' Aid Society, attempting to provide help to travelers in trouble. Multiple newspapers across the United States reported on their work, including the Oakland Tribune, which noted that the need to hire women police officers had "been felt for some time among the officials of Philadelphia, the work of the white slavers demanding some means of protection" for women and girls, and adding: "For years they were members of one of the city's leading aid societies, and in the course of their experience have helped over two thousand girls and women find happiness in good homes." Once employed by the Philadelphia Police Department, which had previously only hired women as police officers for department stores up until that time, Gillespie and Diehl were given even more authority, and were empowered to detain and arrest suspected