By Karla D. Shores
Sun-Sentinel

January 22, 2002

WILTON MANORS -- When African-Americans and Hispanics moved into town, the police department hired officers who looked like them.

Haitians became residents, and the city swore in a Haitian officer a year ago. Now, it just makes sense to start recruiting an openly gay police officer for a city where many of the 12,000 residents are gay, Mayor John Fiore said.

While no official count of gay and lesbian residents exists, Fiore estimates it could be 35 percent of the population.

“I’d like our police department to represent the makeup of our city,” said Fiore, who is openly gay. “We already have minority officers and I feel that a gay police officer would certainly help truly represent the city.”

Fiore’s election victory in 2000 made Wilton Manors the second city in the country with a majority gay city council.

As he launches his re-election campaign, Fiore faces politically driven rumblings he isn’t as gay-friendly as he could be.

He uses this latest push as proof that isn’t true. Fiore encouraged Police Chief Richard Wierzbicki to start looking for a gay officer last year.

Wierzbicki set up a recruiting booth during the Stonewall Street Festival and Parade and has since interviewed a few gay candidates.

But no one passed the screening process.

The search should be more successful this year because the department is stepping up efforts to find openly gay candidates, Wierzbicki said.

The 33-officer department has four open positions.

“It’s important for our law enforcement agency to reflect the community we serve,” he said. “We were fortunate to get [Haitian Officer] Frantz [Petitpapa]. Hopefully we can get a gay officer as well.”

Fiore said the current police department works well with the gay community. But in certain cases, especially domestic dispute calls, he said the sensitivity of a gay police officer would be a plus.

His idea has the full support of his election opponents, Councilwoman Joanne Fanizza and businessman Jim Stork.

“We have recruited several gays to work for City Hall but it’s my understanding we don’t have any gay police officers,” Fanizza said. “Expanding our recruiting horizons is a good idea.”

Stork said he would continue the push for a gay officer if he were elected. “It would be great if the police force would have the diversity or mixture of what our community has in its city,” Stork said. “It would be wonderful if we had a gay or lesbian police officer.”

With non-politicos, however, the idea is a flop.

John Templeton, a gay Wilton Manors resident who boasts his disinterest in politics, said he thinks Fiore is just looking for attention.

“It’s like, oh, come on, John,” Templeton said. “If anything, I have found our police force being very sensitive to the gay community. It’s funny to me that this is coming out right now at election time.”

If Fiore’s idea takes, Wilton Manors could match the efforts of the Key West Police Department, whose seven openly gay officers are the largest number in South Florida relative to the city’s population, said Key West police Sgt. Alan Newby, who is openly gay. Wilton Manors would have to make more internal preparations if a gay man, instead of a lesbian, joins the force, Newby said.

Police work traditionally is viewed as a macho job, and departments are usually more accepting of lesbian officers than gay officers, said Newby.

“Many of these officers are exposed to gays and lesbians every day, but they’ve never worked side by side with an openly gay police officer,” Newby said. “When they know a gay or lesbian is coming to work with them, there’s going to be mixed reactions.”

Newby said the Florida Department of Law Standards requires all police officers to receive one-time cultural training, which includes sexual orientation.

But “depending on the agency or instructor, they could cover it in 30 seconds,” said Newby, who also is the president of the Florida chapter of Law Enforcement Gays and Lesbians. “The important thing is that the agency support gay and lesbian police officers and let that officer know he is going to be judged on work product, not sexual orientation.”

Newby said he sees no reason to publicize the sexual orientation of a police officer but said any city with a significant gay population needs gay officers. Newby said the Key West department recruits gays regularly.

For example, a gay officer might understand that the victim of a gay domestic dispute might not want to “come out” in a police report, and prepare a report accordingly.

The Miami Beach Police Department also has a welcoming climate for gay officers, but recruitment isn’t necessary, Detective Bobby Hernandez said.

Hernandez said at least four of the city’s 370 police officers are openly gay but the department got there by doing what it always does. “We hire the most qualified applicants. It’s not an issue and quite frankly it’s none of our business,” he said.

Hernandez said Wilton Manors should let the same evolution happen naturally for its police department.

If Wilton Manors has a strong gay population, the department eventually will reflect that, he said.

Wierzbicki said the effort is necessary. He plans to fax applications and news releases to several gay police associations as well as publicize recruitment in Express, a local gay publication.

Terry DeCarlo, development director of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center, said the effort may help Fiore garner a few more votes but he doubts the mayor will receive cheering accolades from the gay community.

Said DeCarlo: “It does not matter to me whether a police officer is openly gay, closeted, or straight as long as the police department keeps my neighborhood safe.”

Karla Shores can be reached at kshores@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4552.