The new public face of D.C. law enforcement isn’t cops in riot gear encircling protestors or a couple of black-and-whites shutting down an off-campus party. Instead, it’s Sergeant Brett Parson, commander of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit, one of the most popular and controversial members of the MPD.
The GLLU, tasked since 2000 with both community outreach and criminal investigations within Washington’s large and active gay community, has gained increasing notice over the past two years. Both the unit and Parson, who took command of it in 2001, have received accolades from local and national GLBTQ organizations as well as MPD Chief Charles Ramsey, culminating in a glowing Washington Post profile published last Monday.
A classically tough-talking officer more concerned with his arrests than his awards, Parson is also openly gay. He percieves the GLLU to be acting at the intersection of several different groups.
“You have to have a visible [gay] community, and that community has to be supportive,” Parson said. “If that doesn’t exist, then don’t start a unit. You have to have support from the top, from police leadership and city leadership, who buy into this idea that this community deserves equal service from the police. You have to find people who can do this and can balance policing with outreach. If you don’t have any one of those three things, forget it, don’t start one.”
Despite his successes at the GLLU, Parson resists being pigeon-holed as what he refers to as “the gay poster-child for the Metropolitan Police Department.” Parson is, and wants to remain, a street cop.
“I’m not seeking a promotion, I don’t want to be an administrative lieutenant; I want to stay on the street involved in front line policing,” he said, adding that at some point he would like to return to the Narcotics squad, where he served previously.
However, there is some controversy surrounding both the GLLU and Parson. Opponents of homosexuality condemn the unit outright as a waste of resources, but aren’t given much credence by Parson or the MPD. But Parson has also been the subject of enough citizen complaints to be monitored by the Early Warning Tracking System, which tracks officers who may be too aggressive.
“Just because you have complaints against you doesn’t mean you’ve done anything wrong,” Parson said. “I receive a lot of complaints. I’m an aggressive police officer who is on the streets of the District of Columbia every day, making hundreds of arrests every year. There is a certain population that doesn’t like that.”
Parson and his unit represent a great success for a MPD that is often at odds with students: As both cops and counselors, the members of the GLLU represent a new paradigm in law enforcement and a point of pride for the District.
Further information at the GLLU can be found at http://www.gaydc.net/gllu/.
