HER MOTHER was a VanCamp, her 36-year-old husband was Bram Van Winkle. He hailed from Winkel in North Holland, in what is now called Hollands Kroon. Mina Van Winkle. She was Washington’s first female police detective.
Wilhelmina Van Winkle was a badass. She demonstrated for women’s suffrage. She became president of the union for women cops. Men were afraid of her because she knew too much once girls caved under her interrogation. The Washington Post tried to get her fired, but she also knew too much about the publisher.
A century ago, she was the most famous and feared female police officer in America. Her own officers, the copettes, dwelt on her. And she got her way: women were allowed to vote, women cops were given equal rights, and picked-up hookers were also questioned by women, not only men anymore.
When Congress wanted to abolish the women’s police, Commissioner Kutz came to her rescue. Mina Van Winkle was doing God’s work, he said. Mina and her girls were not defunded.
