Police liaison to build relationships with LGBTQ community

Fairfax County police officer Brian Lawton is reaching out to the LBGTQ community to ensure they feel safe and respected during interactions with the police. He also plans to improve police officers’ awareness of the LBGTQ community.

PFC Lawton took over as the police department’s second LGBTQ liaison June 15 from Lt. Jane Burns.

“The position doesn’t have a written mandate or charter,” he says, and Police Chief Kevin Davis has given him the discretion to set his own goals.

Originally from upstate New York, Lawton has been at the Mason Police Station in Annandale for 17 years. Despite his new position, he still goes on regular patrols and serves on the FCPD underwater search and recovery team.

He and his husband got certified for scuba diving on their honeymoon in Hawaii, and Lawton brought those skills to the FCPD dive time.

Related story: Police divers practice at Lake Barcroft

One of the main things he plans to do is “bolster the relationship between the LGBTQ community and the police.” He wants to let the community know that police stations are “a safe space for them.”

Lawton intends to reach out to NOVA Pride, FCPS Pride, and other LGBTQ organizations, as well as the new Inova Pride Clinic. “I want to engage and interact with them and find out what the need is and how I can get that assistance to the community,” he says.

The community does have some negative attitudes against the police, he acknowledges, noting that some LGBTQ groups in the DC region have asked the police not to walk in uniform in pride parades, as that makes them feel unsafe.

There haven’t been any recent negative incidents in Fairfax County, Lawton says, but, “across the country, the history of the relationship between the LGBTQ community and the police has not been positive and that has led to a false perception here, he says.

According to Lawton, “the belief that the LGBTQ community is not safe or protected or viewed as less important than the rest of the community is not true in Fairfax County.”

He also hopes “to create a more inclusive environment within the police department so my fellow officers who may fall into the LGBTQ community will feel more comfortable.”

Lawton has always been out as a gay man in his 22 years with the FCPD and has “never faced any sort of bias or maltreatment or comments I was aware of.”

However, he says there are police officers who are not comfortable being that open. There are no statistics on how many FCPD employees identify as LGBTQ.

He wants to incorporate awareness about the LGBTQ community into police training, so officers feel comfortable, respect people’s preferred pronouns, and understand the issues.

Another issue Lawton plans to work on is getting police documents to include more specific gender identities, such as transgender, bisexual, CIS, and nonbinary. Now, it’s just male or female.

Lawton would like to see a list of LGBTQ resources posted on the FCPS website and pride flags or stickers identifying police stations and other FCPD facilities as safe spaces.

“Awareness education,” he says, “is probably one of the most important things people outside the LGBTQ community can do right now to support the community – and that’s especially important for young people who are still figuring out how to identify themselves.”