Raleigh Police Department hiring 1st LGBTQ liaison after low score on equality index
The Raleigh Police Department is hiring its first LGBTQ liaison, a spokesperson confirmed Friday.
Details about the position and its responsibilities are being finalized. An official announcement is expected in the coming weeks.
Raleigh scored 69 points out of 100 in the Human Rights Campaign’s 2021 Municipal Equality Index. The report examines how well cities are doing at keeping their municipalities inclusive and safe for their LGBTQ residents.
Not having an LGBTQ liaison cost the city 10 points on this year’s index.
City Council member Jonathan Melton, who is gay, said not having a liaison has hurt Raleigh’s performance on the equality index for many years.
“We have worked really hard to try to increase that score and also extend greater protections to the community,” Melton said, noting Raleigh’s score of 58 in 2019, when he was elected, and its new non-discrimination ordinance.
“The police liaison position was a big void that we have [had],” he said.
The Police Department might have had a liaison by now except for the COVID-19 pandemic and protests after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, said Melton. Then, former city manager Ruffin Hall announced his retirement, followed by former police chief Cassandra Deck-Brown.
“The (new) police chief first got on-boarded and it was the first thing I talked to her about — the RPD liaison position, how we need it,” Melton said. “She agreed, and the city manager agreed.”
Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson came from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, which has had an LGBT liaison since at least 2012. Charlotte scored an 86/100 in the equality index this year.
The city of Durham got a perfect score.
The Durham Police Department announced its first LGBT liaison in September 2016. According to the department’s website, the liaison’s role is to “promote cooperation between the Durham Police Department and the community, while taking a leading role in building a vital link between the police and the LGBTQ community.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2021 at 4:03 PM.
