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Howell writes police union in support of off-duty employment
[Note: FOP stands for Fraternal Order of Police.]
GAY AND LESBIAN ACTIVISTS ALLIANCE
OF WASHINGTON
P. O. Box 75265
Washington, D.C. 20013
July 16, 1999
Detective Frank Tracy
Chairman
FOP/Metropolitan Police Labor Committee
1524 Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20003
Dear Detective Tracy:
I am writing to reiterate our organization's strong opposition to the provisions of Bill 13-42 that would bar the off-duty employment of D.C. police in ABC-licensed businesses or in sexually oriented establishments.
I was very pleased you were able to voice the FOP's opposition to these same provisions during your July 13 testimony before the Council's Judiciary Committee. We testified against these provisions last November, and we have resubmitted that testimony. (You can read it on our website, at: www.glaa.org.)
Frankly, we had thought that this proposal was dead in the water. But now that it seems to have arisen from the dead, we want to work as closely as possible with you to send it back to the graveyard.
You were quite correct in noting that the proposed off-duty employment ban would make it harder to recruit and retain qualified police in the MPD. You were equally justified in calling Bill 13-42's provision an insult to the integrity and common sense of our police officers. Like you, we are baffled by the concept that there is some kind of inherent conflict of interest unless the proposed ban is enacted into law.
You may have heard Councilmember Sharon Ambrose ask Chief Charles Ramsey if he would be amenable to the idea that the ban should be effective only within the targeted establishments, not outside. The Chief replied that he was open to that suggestion. We, however, see no sense in an employment ban applied either inside or outside. There have been incidents inside gay or lesbian businesses where the presence of an off-duty MPD officer employed by the management was essential to maintaining order. We see no reason to compromise the safety of patrons in our community's establishments by adopting the provisions of Bill 13-42.
We look forward in working in close harmony with the FOP on this issue.
Sincerely,
Craig Howell
President
cc: Councilmember Harold Brazil, Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary
Councilmember Sharon Ambrose
Councilmember Kevin Chavous
Councilmember Jack Evans
Councilmember Vincent Orange
Metropolitan Police Department Chief Charles Ramsey
Carlene Cheatam, Office of the Public Advocate
The Washington Blade
