Twenty-five years ago police would regularly arrest gays and lesbians in San Diego on trumped-up charges, according to a former top cop Norm Stamper in his book Breaking Rank. There’s no question that much has improved between police and the GLBT community in recent decades.

And one reason is David Rubin. About 20 years ago, Rubin arrived in San Diego and became the first openly gay district attorney in San Diego – and the only openly gay person in all of law enforcement in San Diego County.

Rubin often recounts the story of his unsuspecting secretary offering to fix him up. “Just be sure he’s tall and has broad shoulders,” he told her.

As the first gay man in law enforcement, Rubin regularly interfaced with rank and file police officers in hundreds of criminal trials over the years. He opened the door for other GLBT persons to “come out” in law enforcement jobs. He frequently appeared at police academy training sessions, explaining about gays and lesbians.

So there was sense of irony recently when Rubin, who battled homophobia in law enforcement, prosecuted Adrian Camacho for the murder of Tony Zeppetella, a rookie police officer in Oceanside. Zeppetella was gunned down by Camacho during a gun fight after a routine traffic stop on June 13, 2003. On Nov. 13, jurors returned a first-degree murder conviction, and a few weeks later recommended the death penalty for Camacho.

Death penalty cases are the most complex and engaging cases, reserved for the most-experienced and competent prosecutors. This was a career-making case for Rubin.

I’m predicting the governor will appoint him to a judgeship. With the governor’s appointment of lesbian Susan Kennedy, and the first lady’s appointment of a gay man, Daniel Zignale, to her respective chief of staff, Arnold and Maria seem to like gay folk.

Despite the presence of Rubin (and his boss, D.A. Bonnie Dumanis) there is concern about homophobia in law enforcement.

As of Jan. 1, Mayor Sanders has the power to hire and fire the police chief. The current police chief, William Lansdowne, has drawn praise from GLBT leaders, who view him as progressive, especially in regard to GLBT issues.

Prior to his arrival, longtime gay activist attorney Bruce Nickerson praised Lansdowne as a police chief who doesn’t tolerate singling out gays for discriminatory enforcement.

But Sanders and Lansdowne had a fight of sorts in the media a few months ago, during the trial of Michael Zucchet.

Lansdowne testified on behalf of Zucchet. His testimony was hardly pivotal in the case; the chief simply told the jury and judge that he didn’t think Zucchet possessed the character of someone corrupt. And Judge Miller pretty much agreed when he later overturned the jury verdict on bribery charges. Sanders criticized Lansdowne in the U-T and some predicted that Sanders and Lansdowne would have trouble if Sanders became mayor.

Lansdowne came to San Diego from San Jose, and he’s the first “outsider” to run the SDPD in more than 50 years. And no doubt some of the folks downtown aren’t happy with his changes and would like to see one of the good ol’ boys return to running the department.

That could be a problem. Many of those boys are linked to the homophobic days of the ’70s and ’80s, and to events described in Stamper’s Breaking Rank.

Mayor Sanders denies that those false arrests and beatings ever occurred, though there are many here who have the proof, i.e. physical and emotional. And City Attorney Mike Aguirre has agreed that they will have a chance to prove it. More on that later.

Keeping SDPD free of homophobia is very important. And while we don’t see trumped-up charges and random beatings today of GLBT individuals, there are subtle signs. A few months back, all of us heard about the woman who injected a group of transgender people with industrial-strength silicone, causing one to die.

Police issued an arrest warrant for the woman responsible for the homicide. She’s never been caught, even though police know her name, family and friends. I get the sense that it’s not the same priority as closing down Bourbon Street on a Saturday night because there’s five people there over capacity, or sending undercover agents into a “private” sex club to witness two men masturbating.

And while homophobia may have nothing to with this picture, you have to wonder. Robert DeKoven is a professor at California Western School of Law.