Florida the rules are different here Chapter XI

Here is some news from the Sun-Sentinel. Call me old fashioned, but the main criteria for a police officer is their competence to do their job not their sexual orientation.

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FORT LAUDERDALE · The Police Department is looking for a few good men and women -- who are gay.

The department has begun running advertising targeted to a gay and lesbian audience, hoping to add diversity to the ranks. The department also will have its first booth at the next gay Pridefest here, officials said.

"I wouldn't mind seeing more openly gay officers at the department,'' said Police Detective Brice Brittenum. "I think that would be great for the department and the community.''

Brittenum is the department's new liaison to the gay and lesbian community. The 24-year-old is a longtime Fort Lauderdale resident who has been on the force for four years.

When the current officer in the job, Detective James Pott, announced his soon-to-be retirement, Brittenum volunteered for the post.

Pott said he created the job years ago after discovering in the early 1990s, when he was working robberies, that many gay men who had been robbed didn't report the crimes. Pott had gay-oriented newspapers publish a letter from him asking for victims to contact him and promising to investigate.

"The phones were ringing off the hook,'' Pott remembers.

Brittenum said the job, which doesn't bring any extra pay with it, is a way to communicate to gay residents that the department won't ignore crimes against them.

"We hope to send a positive message to the community that we're not going to turn our backs on any group,'' Brittenum said, adding that there is also a liaison on staff to the Haitian community.

Brittenum, who took on the role on top of his duties investigating burglaries, said he's tracking any hate crimes against gays or lesbians. He said they are "few and far between.'' Since 2002, three were reported, plus one anti-heterosexual hate crime, he said.

Brittenum said he doesn't see any major issues facing the gay community and its relations with the Police Department or the community at large.

"We're lucky enough to have a fairly tolerant community,'' Brittenum said. "Everybody's pretty comfortable with everybody else.''

An openly gay officer, Brittenum said he had no reservations taking the role.

"I just felt it was something that needed to be done," he said.

While he said he hopes to see more openly gay officers, he didn't want to say how many already are on the force.

"That's something I really don't feel comfortable commenting on.''