Recruiting by Uniformed Gay Police Officers Goes Smoothly at Festival

A day after the Police Commission intervened on their behalf, homosexual police officers in full Los Angeles Police Department uniform joined five colleagues Saturday for a low-key day of recruiting at the Sunset Junction street festival in Silver Lake.

“I like being a cop,” said reserve Officer Paul Butler. “This is a chance to spread the word that being a gay police officer is possible in the city of Los Angeles, and I want to be sure that anyone who wants to be a cop has an opportunity to do it.”

In their fight to be present--and in uniform--at the LAPD recruiting table, the officers had won a small battle in a long-running conflict with Police Chief Daryl F. Gates, whose attempt to bar their appearance was overruled by the Police Commission in an emergency meeting Friday.

The commission “absolutely did the right thing,” said Lt. Richard Gonzalez, commanding officer of the department’s Employment Opportunity and Development Division, who joined officers at the recruiting table Saturday morning. “I think the commission felt it’s an excellent community outreach program.”

The presence of homosexual recruiters became an issue last week after Gates prohibited off-duty officers from wearing their uniforms while working at the recruitment booth. Because the Silver Lake neighborhood has a large homosexual population, the ban was seen by activists as anti-gay.

Gates had argued that uniformed off-duty recruiters would be in violation of state labor laws, would increase the city’s liability and would confuse festival-goers seeking help from the police.

In a unanimous vote, the commission ordered that two gay officers who volunteered be paid to work on on-duty status and in uniform at the recruitment booth.

“It’s not about money,” said Officer Marc Goodman, 26, three-year veteran of the Police Department who volunteered for the Saturday assignment. “It’s important that this be done.”

A lesbian officer who also volunteered was expected to staff the booth Saturday afternoon, Gonzalez said. Butler, the reserve officer, worked without pay.

No signs were posted asking homosexuals to apply for police jobs and no special effort was made to seek them out Saturday.

Most of the people who stopped by the LAPD table Saturday seemed to be aware of the controversy. For the most part, they expressed support for the officers. “I think it’s great that you’re here!” shouted one man as he passed by.

“I want to know,” said another, “if I supply the handcuffs, would you arrest me?”

An officer smiled and said, “Not today.”

The recruiters ignored a man who showed up about 11 a.m with a sign that read: “If a straight male cop can’t search a female, should a gay search a male?” The man refused to tell a reporter his name.

“He has a need, obviously, to put on a show and so he’s fulfilling his need,” Gonzalez said.

Recruitment of gays has long been a point of controversy at the Police Department and is at issue in a lawsuit filed by a former officer, Mitchell Grobeson, who alleges that the department discriminated against him because he is a homosexual.

Last year, the Los Angeles City Council contemplated settling the lawsuit by reinstating Grobeson and acceding to his request that homosexuals be actively recruited, just as ethnic minorities and women are sought out.

However, Gates, who is adamantly opposed to such a policy change, persuaded a number of council members to withhold their support and the case remains unresolved.