Following the appointment of an LGBTQ+ police liaison in the Chamblee Police Department. DeKalb Commissioner Ted Terry has introduced a resolution championing the need for a similar liaison at the county level.
The resolution requests the administration implement a DeKalb County Police Department LGBTQ+ liaison position and require hate crimes identification training for law enforcement.
Terry told Georgia Voice that he was motivated to advocate for these changes after the 2023 DeKalb County Equality Progress Report by Georgia Equality. While the county received high marks for passing a nondiscrimination ordinance, the advocacy organization recommended improving the police department’s relationship with the LGBTQ+ community by establishing a clear hate crime reporting system and a liaison.
“Since DeKalb considers ourselves to be a welcoming and inclusive county, this was something that, to me, made a lot of sense,” Terry said. “We hear and understand that the LGBTQ+ community, particularly the transgender community, might feel less likely to report [crimes] if there’s any sort of barrier or concern that law enforcement doesn’t have a specific person that has the skill set that could make some of these reporting of crimes, instances, or concerns more access to the LGBTQ+ community.”
Terry said the county’s police department currently has an interim chief which has halted the institution of these changes, but he’s hopeful they will be established soon with the passage of this resolution.
According to a 2022 study from Policing the Rainbow, 56.6 percent of LGBTQ+ people found their most recent encounter with the police to be unfair, and 58.6 percent believe the police do not do a good job responding to local issues. In response to this history, more police departments across the country have introduced LGBTQ+ liaison roles. According to the HRC Municipal Equality Index, police liaisons help ensure that hate crimes are properly investigated and reported and victims are not misgendered.
A DeKalb police liaison would join the likes of Officer Brandon White in Chamblee, Officer Brandon Hayes in Atlanta, and Sergeant Kevin Turner in South Fulton.
Related stories:
• Chamblee LGBTQ+ liaison bridges historic gap between police and community
• Public memorial for DeKalb officer killed in CDC shooting set for Aug. 22
