Joan Reinke Robles, one of Tucson's 'suede slipper cops,' dies

Joan Reinke Robles, who was among the first women cops hired by the Tucson Police Department, died Oct. 13. She was 90.

Robles died at her home surrounded by family and friends, said her former husband, George Robles, on Friday.

She had suffered a minor heart attack Oct. 4 — her birthday — and her health “slowly failed from there,” said her stepdaughter Maryann Simpson.

Both lovingly talked about Robles’ life, Simpson describing her as a “pretty spectacular woman.”

“She was the most curious woman I ever knew. She read voraciously and was very interested about different cultures, and what people had to say,” she said of Robles, who began traveling the world in the early 1950s on through 2006. Her travels included Europe, Japan, South America and Malaysia.

Her work as a police officer for TPD began in 1952. She was trained by Alice Birdman Maguire who became her partner.

Maguire had just returned from Los Angeles where she underwent three weeks of training, and learned how to use a gun and defend herself. She took Robles under her wing and Robles learned on the job.

In a 2013 Star article, Maguire explained why the department hired them. The League of Women Voters didn’t like the idea of policemen frisking women and children. The league impressed upon the city manager the need for women on the force.

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“I didn’t know what to expect,” said Robles in the article. “There was a segment of the population down there who were suspicious of us,” said Robles of the other officers. Maguire added: “They thought we were stool pigeons for the chief, but we weren’t.”

Robles and her partner worked rotating eight-hour shifts and earned less than $300 a month, which was considered good pay then. The women worked with the detective squad. They wore high heels, skirts and jackets.

Each had a specially designed purse with a holster for their gun. The purse also carried handcuffs, a billy club and lipstick. Robles and Maguire were known as the “suede slipper cops.” Among their duties, were checking bars in search of children who were out past the 10 p.m. curfew.

On slow shifts, Robles would pull out her ukulele and play while Maguire drove the patrol car. “It was pretty boring in Tucson in those days. Tucson was buttoned up by 10 o’clock,” said Robles in the article.

Robles, a native of Minneapolis and a graduate of the University of Minnesota, left the police department after a year, and moved to San Francisco and took a job as a social worker, said George Robles.

She eventually returned to Tucson after marrying George in 1968 in San Francisco. The two met when she was a TPD cop and George also was on the force. He retired as a lieutenant from TPD in 1970 after 20 years, and then became chief of police in South Tucson.

Robles went to work for the Juvenile Probation Office, and later at The Haunted Bookshop where she had a corner and bought and sold out-of-print books. She became a collector and specialized in Southwestern Americana, recalled George Robles.

Services are pending.