D.C.
Police
Sgt.
Brett
Parson
is
leaving
his
post
as
commander
of
the
department’s
Gay
&
Lesbian
Liaison
Unit
and
will
be
reassigned,
at
his
own
request,
to
street
patrol
duties
in
the
city’s
Columbia
Heights
neighborhood.
Parson
has
headed
the
unit
since
former
Police
Chief
Charles
Ramsey
appointed
him
to
the
post
in
June
2001,
one
year
after
Ramsey
created
the
gay
unit
in
June
2000.
Gay
activists
have
praised
the
unit
under
Parson’s
command
for
its
direct
crime-fighting
work
as
well
as
its
community
outreach
and
public
education
functions.
“I
have
said
from
the
beginning
that
my
desire
has
always
been
to
eventually
return
to
street-level
policing,
which
is
my
passion,”
Parson
said.
He
said
he
decided
to
request
a
change
in
assignment
at
this
time
because
interim
Police
Chief
Cathy
Lanier
has
restructured
the
department
to
place
greater
emphasis
on
neighborhood
patrols,
including
the
deployment
of
more
police
personnel
on
the
streets.
Mayor
Adrian
Fenty,
who
took
office
Jan.
2,
initiated
the
changes
and
said
he
appointed
Lanier
as
chief
because
she
favors
a
stronger
police
presence
on
the
streets.
Parson
said
he
has
been
assigned
to
Police
Service
Area
302
in
the
Third
Police
District,
which
covers
the
section
of
Northwest
Washington
known
as
Columbia
Heights.
The
area
has
experienced
a
sharp
increase
in
crime
in
recent
years
as
large
numbers
of
new
residents,
including
gays,
have
bought
and
renovated
homes
in
the
rapidly
gentrifying
neighborhood.
Lanier
will
likely
appoint
someone
from
outside
the
15-member
unit
to
head
the
unit
because
no
one
other
than
Parson
currently
holds
the
rank
of
sergeant.
Supervisors
with
the
rank
of
sergeant
or
above
are
usually
selected
to
head
specialized
units
within
the
department
such
as
the
Gay
&
Lesbian
Liaison
Unit.
Tough
yet
compassionate
Ramsey’s
decision
to
give
the
gay
liaison
unit
powers
to
conduct
investigations
and
make
arrests
under
Parson’s
tenure
made
it
one
of
the
first
such
units
among
the
nation’s
police
departments
to
exercise
such
authority.
At
the
time
Ramsey
created
the
unit
in
2000,
the
gay
liaison
units
in
most
of
the
police
departments
that
had
them
conducted
mostly
outreach
and
public
education
to
build
improved
relations
between
police
and
gays.
Prior
to
being
assigned
to
the
gay
unit,
Parson
had
worked
in
key
crime-fighting
units,
including
the
homicide
and
narcotics
and
special
investigation
squads.
During
his
tenure
as
head
of
the
Gay
&
Lesbian
Liaison
Unit,
Parson
played
a
direct
role
in
assisting
his
previous
units
in
gay-related
cases
such
as
murders.
He
startled
some
in
the
community
by
occasionally
arresting
gay
bar
patrons
on
drug-related
charges.
Yet
bar
owners
and
employees,
along
with
customers
of
most
of
the
city’s
gay
clubs,
praised
Parson
for
responding
quickly
to
calls
for
help
in
cases
where
criminals
targeted
bar
patrons
for
robberies
or
assaults.
Parson
arrested
an
aggressive
panhandler
in
the
O
Street,
S.E.,
gay
bar
district
at
least
three
times
within
a
three-week
period
after
the
panhandler
continued
to
threaten
to
vandalize
people’s
cars
if
they
did
not
pay
him
money
for
“protection.”
“He
is
the
type
of
police
officer
who
should
typify
what
all
police
officers
should
be,”
said
gay
activist
Vince
Micone,
who
has
served
as
a
volunteer
member
of
the
gay
unit
as
part
of
the
department’s
reserve
officer
program.
“He
is
tough
in
enforcing
the
law
but
shows
great
care
and
compassion
for
people.”
Last
week,
Parson
worked
with
transgender
activist
Earline
Budd
to
locate
the
family
members
of
a
transgender
woman
who
was
found
slain
in
her
apartment
on
Jan.
6.
As
he
had
with
family
members
of
other
murder
victims
from
the
gay
and
transgender
communities,
Parson
consoled
the
mother
of
Diamond
Person
and
informed
her
that
police
had
filed
charges
of
first-degree
murder
against
a
man
arrested
for
the
killing.
“I’m
very
sorry
to
see
him
go,
but
I
respect
his
decision
to
follow
his
calling
and
go
back
on
regular
patrols,”
said
Sterling
Washington,
former
president
of
the
D.C.
Coalition
of
Black
Lesbian,
Gay,
Bisexual
&
Transgender
Men
and
Women.
“He
was
really
the
face
of
the
unit,”
said
Rev.
Candis
Shultis,
pastor
of
the
city’s
Metropolitan
Community
Church,
which
has
a
mostly
gay
congregation.
“And
he
was
a
great
face
for
the
department
within
our
community.
He
seemed
to
be
everywhere.”
A
‘tremendous
loss’
Veteran
D.C.
gay
activist
Frank
Kameny
called
Parson’s
departure
from
the
Gay
&
Lesbian
Liaison
Unit
a
“tremendous
loss”
for
the
community.
Kameny
expressed
concern
that
Parson’s
replacement
may
not
be
given
or
may
not
choose
to
exercise
the
arrest
and
investigatory
authority
that
Parson
used
during
his
tenure
at
the
unit.
“This
worries
me
a
great
deal,”
Kameny
said.
Parson’s
departure
from
the
gay
liaison
unit
comes
at
a
time
when
two
gay
police
officers
are
suing
the
department
over
allegations
that
an
official
with
the
police
internal
affairs
unit
disclosed
their
sexual
orientation
against
their
will
in
an
effort
to
harm
their
careers.
The
two
officers
charge
in
their
suit,
which
is
pending
in
D.C.
Superior
Court,
that
anti-gay
bias
runs
high
within
the
department.
Former
Chief
Ramsey
disputed
claims
that
anti-gay
bias
is
widespread,
saying
that
the
department
has
a
strict
non-discrimination
policy
pertaining
to
gays
and
other
...
