THE MAKING OF A WOMAN COP

A success story about a very feminine Seven Sister grad who comes off her Mount (Holyoke) to join the Washington police force in 1968, mainly because she can't find a job anywhere else. For those who can stay awake, it's a low-key book about the low-key things cops do--things like driving around waiting for a radio call to go where a group of other cops has already assembled. (Policemen are like guppies; they don't like to go anywhere alone.) Her acceptance by an already racially integrated police force came easily and she quickly rose to sergeant--a woman in command of seven men. As for Abrecht's home life, it was no problem: her Yale husband joined the force after her (he is now a sergeant), whereas she studied law at night and is now working for the US Attorney's office. One hopes her feminist consciousness has been further raised: it's a little late in the game to be making snide cracks about prostitutes as rape victims. She's no Dorothy Uhnak.