Gays and lesbians should still consider a career in the police force, says the country's highest profile police officer who resigned from the force last week. Speaking following his resignation which was sparked by a newspaper sting operation which revealed his sexually explicit webpage and ambiguous discussions about drug use, Mark Richards says he “applaud[s] any gay or lesbian person who decides that Policing is a career for them.” He says it was a career that served him well. Richards believes several gays people who were planning a Police career have been put off by his public denunciation “as they do not know whether they would like their personal lives under so much close scrutiny.” He hopes his experience will not stall the gay recruiting programme which he started.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 27th August 2002 - 12:00pm