Iowa City Police Department creates LGBT liaisons

IOWA CITY - The Iowa City Police Department has appointed three officers to serve as liaisons to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

The police department said the liaisons will foster a better connection with the LGBT community in the city. And the LGBT community is pleased with the move, according to Jewell Amos, chairperson for Iowa City Pride.

'Whenever I tell somebody that there's a liaison thing going on, everybody is really excited about it and looking forward to it and happy about it,” Amos said this week. 'Whether you need it or not, having it there is a nice security thing or insurance. Knowing you have the backing of the police and knowing they are going to be on your side ... I think that's a major thing.”

According to the police department, the goals of the liaisons are:

l Fostering positive relationships between the department and the LGBT community

l Assisting the investigative division with LGBT-related crimes

l Working with other city and law enforcement agencies and other community-based organizations on LGBT-related issues

l Maintaining an active role in recruiting and police training as it relates to the LGBT community

'It can be as much or as little as those groups want it to be,” said Capt. Doug Hart. 'It could be they have certain names as a point of contact. We're willing to go to community meetings, community events.”

Hart said the liaisons weren't born out of any complaints or concerns about the police department's handling of LGBT-related crimes or issues, but rather a desire to strengthen relationships with that segment of the population. Amos said she's never personally dealt with police, but has heard from people who thought their case might not have been taken as seriously or their sexual orientation might not have been taken into consideration when an officer was investigating a crime or complaint.

Amos said her orientation is only '10 percent” of who she is, but that 10 percent is very important to her. She and others just want the police to consider that when following up on crimes.

'Hopefully, this helps them identify some training things that need to be updated in the police department,” she said. 'That's my hope, that every police officer is sensitive to these issues and knows how to handle them. It gives people a direct line to someone they know is going to listen to them.”

Hart said the request for LGBT liaisons had a strong responses in the department. In the end, neighborhood response officer Rob Cash, and investigators Bob Hartman and Andy Rich were appointed liaisons.

Rich said the liaisons were a continuing part of the department's efforts to be more involved in the community. In this case, the department is reaching out to a specific part of the community.

'I think, more than anything else, it's just reaching out to them and saying ‘We're here for you the same as we are any other victim of crime,'” Rich said.

Rich said the liaisons likely will receive additional specific training for responding to LGBT-related issues, similar to other cultural competency training officers receive. The liaisons then will pass that training on to other officers.

'We're going to push for some consistency,” he said.

He added, 'There's a lot of perceptions about law enforcement and most of them are not correct. People sometimes see us as not approachable and that's not the case, at all. We want to make sure we're reaching out to all parts of the community ... We're the police department, we work for them.”