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Officer Joe Morquecho is a native of the Washington D.C. metropolitan area whose career in public service began as an EMT firefighter with the Department of Fire and Rescue of Montgomery County, Maryland. In 1990, Joe joined the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department where he worked in Patrol Services until 1997. It was then that he became a Crime Scene Investigator until 2001, when he took on the task of Tactical Flight Officer for the department's Special Operations Air Support. It was in 2002 that he joined the GLLU, which he currently serves. He is also a volunteer for the Montgomery County Rescue Squad. E-mail Joe at
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Officer Juanita M. Foreman was born and raised in the Metropolitan area and has been with the Department for 18 years. She graduated from Eleanor Roosevelt Senior High School in Greenbelt, MD. She was a four-year letterman for the girl's varsity basketball team. As a freshman, Juanita and her teammates were runner's up to the state champions; also as a senior she received ALL-MET honors, which labeled her as one of the top players in the area. She then received a four-year scholarship to St. Peter's College in Jersey City, NJ. While playing basketball for her college team, Juanita received honors such as the All-MAAC Conference first team, and second team in consecutive years including the All State of NJ first team. Juanita was inducted into the schools Hall of Fame. She then received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from St. Peter's College in Jersey City, NJ, with a minor in psychology, graduating with the class of 1989.
Juanita joined the Metropolitan Police Department in May 1990. She was assigned to the 7th District (in the S.E. quadrant of the city) where she patrolled for 13 years. In May 2003 she joined the GLLU where she currently serves. Email Juanita at
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Officer Zunnobia Hakir was born and raised in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area and graduated from Suitland High School with honors in 1998. Zunnobia began her quest to give back to the community in 1996 by serving as both a tutor and mentor to disadvantaged children in many different programs. These programs sparked her interest in becoming a leader in public service, leading her to the Metropolitan Police Department.
Zunnobia began her career with the Metropolitan Police Department in November 2001. After graduation from the academy, Zunnobia went on to Patrol Services in the Sixth District where she received many awards and praises including "Officer Of The Month". Zunnobia joined the GLLU because of her dedication to making the community safer for all district citizens. Email Zunnobia at
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Officer Kevin Johnson Jr. was born and raised in Washington, D.C. and first served MPDC part-time as a Police Cadet in 1990 while still attending McKinley Tech. Sr. High School at the age of 17. After graduating in 1991 he continued to serve as a Police Cadet Program full time and attended the University of the District of Columbia. He then entered the MPDC Training Academy, graduated in 1992 and was then assigned to the Seventh District Station Patrol Section. Then later as a School Resource Officer serving in the Anacostia Area of Washington, D.C. Kevin was transferred to the GLLU in 2006.
Kevin is currently living in Washington, D.C. and is dedicated to his family and serving the community. Email Kevin at
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Officer Justin Markiewicz originally grew up in northern Delaware. He was brought do to the DC area by college. He attended Catholic University where he got his degree in architecture. Two weeks after graduation in 2006 he joined the Metropolitan Police Department. After graduating the academy he was assigned to the 6th District. Justin always had a desire to serve the GLBT communities and periodically served with the GLLU on a part time basis with patrol still being his sole responsibility. He has been serving with the GLLU full time since August 2010.
In his spare time Justin enjoys playing the piano and organ, being active, and spending time with friends and loved ones. Email Justin at
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Sterling Spangler is a member of the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department's Police Auxiliary and has been part of the GLLU since 2001, currently serving as the Volunteer Services Coordinator among other roles. He's a native West Virginian who moved to the Washington D.C. metropolitan area in 1990 and currently works for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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Sterling also served as President of the Washington D.C. Chapter of the Concerns of Police Survivors (DC-COPS), an organization that provides resources to assist in the rebuilding of the lives of surviving families of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. He has been making inroads in providing recognition to fallen GLBT law enforcement personnel and their survivors, and reaching out to those who must remain 'quiet' about their lives because of the town or agency where they work. He helped found the Invisible Survivors efforts, creating a community of support for those who feel isolated when their grief after a law enforcement death goes unrecognized. Partly due of his efforts, there are GLBT-policing seminars held during annual National Police Week in May for those not legally recognized as survivors of police officers killed while on duty.
Sterling also served on the board of the DC Generals, a metropolitan area police and fire football team, which is part of the National Public Safety Football League. The team competes locally and across the country to raise money for police and fire charities.
Sterling proudly continues to give all the time and support he is able to the GLLU. You can contact Sterling at
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Matt Ashburn joined the Metropolitan Police Department in 2004 to support community outreach and make use of his computer skills. In his day job, he works for the U.S. Government, and recently graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering. When he's not busy working, he enjoys biking, hiking, and camping.
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Officer Kelly Collins-McMurry was one of the original co-founders of the GLLU. She joined the Metropolitan Police Department in May 1992 and made crime fighting her second career. She worked in the Fifth and Second Police Districts before she helped create the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit (GLLU). Before becoming a cop, Kelly worked as a magazine writer and editor for Regardie's Magazine, Trial Magazine, Legal Times, Ohio Magazine, and Columbus Monthly. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Journalism degree from Ohio University, graduating summa cum laude in 1984. It was Kelly's perseverance and dedication that helped make the GLLU what it is today. In an exciting change of scenery, Kelly and her partner, Marcia Collins-McMurry, moved from MPDC and are now training police officers in Eastern Europe. |
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Officer Rosa Roldan-Torres is a full-time member of the Latino Liaison Unit and we are proud to also have her as part of the GLLU on an "as-needed" basis. Rosa is a former 4D officer with many years of MPDC experience. As a native Puerto Rican, she speaks Spanish fluently and can assist the GLLU with cases involving members of the Latino GLBT communities. Rosa can be reached via her MPDC pager at: (202) 996-1342.
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Brett Parson has been serving MPDC for nearly 2 decades. He is currently assigned to the Patrol Services Bureau, in the city’s Sixth District, where he commands the evening tour-of-duty. Prior to returning to patrol in September of 2009, he was assigned to the Executive Office of the Chief of Police, where he commanded the department's Special Liaison Unit (SLU) and was an assistant to Chief Cathy Lanier. Parson and Lanier were partners at the beginnings of the their careers. Under Parson's command were the department's four liaison units (Gay and Lesbian, Latino, Asian and Deaf and Hard of Hearing). He also supervised the department's Family Support Team (FST), which is responsible for response to traumatic events involving the critical injury or death of MPDC's current and/or retired members.
His career has taken him to all corners of the District of Columbia, serving first as an officer and patrol supervisor in the Fourth District, in the city's Northwest quadrant, where he worked with Chief Lanier. While at the Fourth District, Brett worked in patrol, Vice/Narcotics, Gun Recovery, and Investigations and served on several workgroups and committees. He has specialized in the enforcement of alcohol related crimes, as well as Domestic Violence investigations and has been recognized by the department, community and other agencies many times for his work, to include victim advocacy.
In 1999, he was transferred to the Sixth District (Southeast and Northeast quadrants of the city), where he was a patrol and investigative supervisor. He briefly supervised the Violent Crimes Investigative Unit, which is responsible for homicide and other violent crime investigations. From the Sixth District, Brett moved to the Major Narcotics Branch, where he supervised the city's elite Narcotics Strike Force, which infiltrates areas of violent crimes and conducts undercover narcotics operations.
Since leaving the GLLU, he continues to speak publicly regarding GLBT issues, and trains law enforcement in ways to better serve the GLBT communities. Community members, law enforcement and the media have recognized him as a national leader in GLBT-Police relations. Brett is nationally recognized as a resource for investigations involving crimes by, and against the GLBT communities and he has spoken and taught in several other countries on the subject of providing diverse policing. In recognition of this unique work, the GLLU was named the winner of the 2006 Innovations in American Government Award, by Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government – Ashe Institute.
Brett received his B.A. (Criminal Justice/Spanish) from the University of Maryland at College Park (Go Terps!). From 1991-1993, he pursued his M.A. at the same school, studying Criminal Justice and Counseling. A native Washingtonian and current resident, Brett's parents still live in the area, allowing him to unwind with family and life-long friends. |
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Sergeant Pat Howell recently retired from the MPD Reserve Corps, having served since 1987 in the Fourth District. She became a sergeant in 1993, and subsequently passed the exam to become a Lieutenant. She has worked patrol on Midnights since August of 1987; and was the co-founder (along with Reserve Officer Morris Cole) of the 4-D Reserve Power Shift in 1995. From 1988-1995, she was a familiar face at the Georgetown Detail during Summer months, protecting the citizens by handling traffic control at the intersection of Wisconsin and M.
As part of her commitment to safe streets in the District of Columbia, she worked over 80 Sobriety Checkpoints, Seatbelt Checkpoints and Child Safety Restraint Checkpoints in all of the 7 police districts. As a self-proclaimed 'adrenalin junkie', Pat got itchy feet in 2005, and finding the Fourth District to be 'not exciting enough', she turned down the opportunity to be promoted to Lieutenant and to take over the command of the 4-D Reserve Corps. Also, she confesses that her attachment to wearing her BDUs (the less formal Battle Dress Uniform) convinced her she definitely did not want to be promoted to Lieutenant, since only those with the rank of Sergeant and below may wear the BDU.
An invitation to work with Sgt. Parson and the members of GLLU came at the right time, and Pat joined GLLU in October 2005. A native Washingtonian, it was while studying Criminal Justice at George Washington University that she worked on the 'Women in Policing' research project for three years, thus opening the door to her love of policing. |
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