'Godfather' Gentile Plans To Retire After 40 Years

Sgt. Joe Gentile, who has been the D.C. police department's public face and spokesman for nearly four decades, is retiring later this month, he said yesterday.

"Most people in their careers have to face a time when there should be a changing of the guard," said Gentile, 64, who completed his 40th year on the force yesterday. "After 40 years, it's time to take a break and take care of personal matters."

Gentile's office has been a daily stop for many police officers, officials and chiefs who sit on his couch and listen to his one-liners or absorb some of his advice -- which he dispenses whether asked to or not. For that, he was given the nickname "Godfather."

"I've always felt like this is a family," said Gentile, whose last day will be Oct. 27.

Last year, then-Chief Charles H. Ramsey awarded Gentile a medal and named the public information office after him. The honors continued Friday when Chief Cathy L. Lanier gave Gentile a certificate for 40 years of distinguished service, singling him out during a promotions ceremony. On stage in front of hundreds of officers, Gentile thanked Lanier, then looked down at the certificate.

"Chief, I want to thank you for changing the date on this certificate from 1867 to 1967," he said.

When he walked offstage, he got a standing ovation for 10 minutes.

"There will be a void when Joe leaves," Lanier said yesterday. "He's a walking encyclopedia."

Gentile spent his first few years with the department as a patrol officer but soon wound up in the community relations office because he had taken journalism classes.

He emerged as a national television presence in 1977 when a Hanafi Muslim group stormed three D.C. buildings, killing a radio reporter and shooting and wounding a security guard and Marion Barry, who was then, as now, a D.C. Council member.

It was the first of many national and international incidents in the District that would thrust him into the limelight: the 1981 shooting of President Ronald Reagan, Barry's 1990 drug arrest while mayor, the 1994 fatal shooting of two FBI agents and a D.C. police sergeant at police headquarters, and so on.

Gentile said he eventually might be open to coming back part time, probably in a different capacity. He said his years of working 14-hour days are over, but he hasn't given up on the department.

"Who knows?" he said. "My path may lead me back here someday."