Denver Police Chief Robert White opens dialogue with GLBT community

In an effort to establish open lines of communication members of the Denver Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Commission met May 2 with newly appointed Police Chief Robert White.

Erica Johnson, Catherine Shea, David Remson and John Kelly, all members of the Commission’s Law Enforcement Committee met with White and Deputy Chief of Operations David Quinones at police headquarters.

The Commission, which partners with the community to advance social, economic and political equality for GLBT people, came to the meeting with three goals: they hoped to establish an open line of communication with the department, ensure that GLBT training programs for officers are in place and establish a GLBT liaison.

White expressed that he too was hoping for open lines of communication with all members of the community and thought one possible venue might be holding citizen police academies.

“Very few citizens leave the academy without having a good feel for the police department”, he said.

These academies give citizens a better understanding of what officers do, allow the citizens to discuss some of the issues they have in their communities and are a great recruiting tool. White even suggested the possibility of an all GLBT citizen academy if there is interest.

Currently all members of the department with the rank of sergeant or above take a training course dealing with minority communities including the LGBT community. That training, according to White, will eventually be rolled out to all members of the department. White also said that he wasn’t opposed to having community groups speak to new officers during their initial training in order to make an impact before they hit the streets.

Capt. Jennifer Steck has been appointed by the Chief to serve full time as the department’s community liaison to all community groups. White said that he, his staff and other department resources would be available to attend meetings and other functions throughout the city to answer questions, address concerns and keep the communication flowing.