This book is about how police officers can overcome law enforcement's unwritten "don't ask, don't tell" policy and live their lives as they were made to be.  The book includes a collection of autobiographies of highly successful police officers from all over the country.  These rarely published coming out stories of real police officers are intended to inspire the thousands of law enforcement officers who are still in the closet and who are searching for the courage to come out.

This book is perfect for you if you are…

·        Working in law enforcement and thinking about coming out.

·        An out gay or lesbian in law enforcement.

·        A friend of someone in law enforcement who is gay and struggling.

·        An ally who wants to learn more about how to be supportive.

·        A law enforcement leader interested in creating an accepting diverse place to work.

·        A law enforcement psychologist who wants to better understand.

·        A young gay or lesbian person who is thinking about a law enforcement career.

·        Anyone who wants a look inside a secretive and intriguing part of law enforcement.

www.comingoutfrombehindthebadge.com

Greg Miraglia is the Dean of the Criminal Justice Training Center and Police Academy at Napa Valley College in California. He oversees one of 39 state certified law enforcement training centers in the state. 

Mr. Miraglia began his career as a police explorer scout at the age of 15 and has since served three law enforcement agencies in positions including 9-1-1 dispatcher, reserve police officer, supervisor, division manager, and most recently as a deputy chief.  With over 20 years of teaching experience, he is recognized as an expert in human relations and hate crimes education.  Mr. Miraglia has created and authored innovative curriculum in the area of competency based evaluation, hate crimes education, cultural awareness, and has written over a dozen articles published  in law enforcement professional magazines. 

He is active as a member of the Matthew Shepard Foundation Advisory Board, a faculty member of the “Stop The Hate!” program, and as a mentor for Positive Images of Santa Rosa, California.  Mr. Miraglia has a Masters Degree in Education Administration, a Bachelor’s Degree in Business, and is a graduate of the California P.O.S.T. Master Instructor Development Program.

In this book, Mr. Miraglia shares his own personal story of struggle, sacrifice, and success and offers advice for how to achieve happiness in the challenging career of law enforcement.

Law enforcement is a noble career that demands courage and personal commitment to serve our communities and society as a whole.  Law enforcement personnel who are gay, lesbian, or bisexual have to have another kind of courage to be successful in a largely conservative and often homophobic profession.

We look to law enforcement officers to be role models, community leaders, and in some ways, "heroes."  But even law enforcement officers need good role models to be successful and this is particularly important for current or aspiring law enforcement officers who happen to be gay, lesbian, or bisexual.  The Law enforcement profession, as a whole, needs strong gay, lesbian, and bisexual personnel to be out at work in order to correct the misinformation, misperceptions, and definitions of what it means have a sexual orientation other than heterosexual.

"Coming Out From Behind The Badge" is a collection of short autobiographies of law enforcement personnel who have come out as gay, lesbian, or bisexual while preparing for or working in law enforcement.  The goal of this book is to inspire those who are still in the closet to step out "from behind the badge" and live their lives fully as their true selves.  It is also hoped that this book will help the straight members of law enforcement better understand the internal and deeply personal struggles many of their own co-workers are dealing with on the job. ...

According to the United States Bureau of Justice Statistics, there are over 1,000,000 full time employees working in law enforcement throughout the United States.  If the famous psychologist, Alfred Kinsey, is right about his research and that 1 out of every 10 people is gay, lesbian, or bi-sexual, that would mean there could be 100,000 members of law enforcement in United States who are gay.  So where are they all?