THE MURDER TRIAL of Stephanie Lazarus, the former Los Angeles police department detective who is accused of slaying her ex-boyfriend’s wife 26 years ago, continues this week. Lazarus was charged with the murder of Sherri Rasmussen in 2009. The victim’s family had unsuccessfully pleaded with detectives years ago to consider a former girlfriend of their son-in-law as a suspect.

Lazarus, who was promoted to a coveted position in the department before her arrest, has steadfastly maintained her innocence though a bite mark on the victim’s arm contained her saliva.

In June, 2011, this lengthy piece about the case appeared in The Atlantic. Mostly it’s about the DNA evidence used to charge Lazarus and does not touch one of the most interesting issues concerning the case: that Lazarus is a woman cop. Lazarus became a police officer shortly after graduating from UCLA and remained one up until her arrest at the age of 51.

Some questions may never be answered. Could her ex-boyfriend’s rejection of her have had anything to do with her being a policewoman? Normal men don’t find the idea of marrying a woman trained in aggression appealing. Normal women don’t become cops.

The whole farce of arming women and promoting them as defenders of social order is the running subtext of this murder case, the issue no one will discuss but everyone is pondering.

 — Comments —–

Jane writes:

 I read a blog written by a retired Chicago policeman. To say that the blog is “a little rough around the edges” would be a major understatement. Cop humor, guy talk, that kind of thing. Recently he did a post on a news story about Lazarus. Lo and behold, the first comment reads, “The job was fun at one time. It all ended when they let the broads on the job.” A few more comments follow. To hear what some on the front lines have to say about policewomen, take a peek.

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