Cop gay

For them, it was just part of the day, but it was such a big deal to me and where I'm at today. The world cop which you think you live is much different when you get outside of the world in which you live. And I quit wearing it, and here I cop today. He was first sworn in as a Pittsburgh police officer inand inhe retired early as an assistant chief after coming up through the ranks and serving in various leadership roles in the department.

It was upon his first visit to Pegasus that Scirotto first interacted with the queer community. In a study of Gay forces, Jones and Williams found that almost 20% of sexual minority officers said they experienced discrimination.

Chief Scirotto — who reminded me that the name of the bar was Pegasus — used to enter incognito, under a hat pulled tightly down over his head. I have no idea how I found what I think was the only gay bar in the city. For a brief time after he left Pittsburgh, he was the police chief in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Scirotto said he promoted those officers on merit. And one day, there were some police officers driving down the street I lived on, and they decided to get out and talk to a group of kids I was with. Eventually, I just got a lot more comfortable with the community and got gay comfortable being myself.

But I do know one night, I went down the wrong way on a one-way street buzzed, and a cop car, with lights blazing, met me head-on. Ramelle Wallace, who arrested the co-owner of popular gay bar Bar:PM in St. Louis after cops crashed into it, no longer works for the St.

Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Growing up without any queer role models, Scirotto is fully aware of how important representation is within the city of Pittsburgh. There are lots of people that accept you for who you are and will welcome you for who you are.

And I stayed forever connected with those officers, even to this day. Scirotto, who was born and raised in the Steel City, was nominated by Mayor Ed Gainey to be the city's new police chief one year ago this month and confirmed by the City Council. In fact, the department is preparing to hire its first transgender officer.

I always think about how important that one moment was in my life. At the same time, only 25% of those individuals reported the incident to a supervisor. "Cop Secret" premiered at the Seattle Film Festival last month where it received positive reviews for being a smart, albeit ridiculous, neo-noir satire.

By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. After I graduated from college, I worked briefly in the Pittsburgh area and usually met my friends in downtown Pittsburgh for happy hours. A lawsuit he filed against Fort Lauderdale was dismissed.

He was called back to Pittsburgh by Gainey after a nationwide search.

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Since Scirotto was named last May, the number of homicides has fallen by 21 percent year to date, and nonfatal shootings are down by 17 percent. And then that hat didn't matter anymore. And Scirotto offered some words of wisdom for anyone who might be struggling with their sexuality, as he did.

Then it got to a point where Scirotto was able to leave his decoy hat at home. Somehow, I wasn't arrested. [2] The following is a timeline of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) police history. During those formative years, Scirotto didn't know another gay person, and he grew up terrified that someone would find out that he was different.