After months of speculation of when a second LGBT liaison would be named, the Atlanta Police Department’s Chief George Turner and Mayor Kasim Reed today announced that Zone 2 Precinct Patrol Officer Brian Sharp would fill the second spot. The announcement comes just a week before the 40th annual Atlanta Pride that is expected to attract tens of thousands of people to the city and Piedmont Park.
The Atlanta Police Department’s new GLBT Advisory Board now has a place on the APD’s website. There’s not much on it right now — the nine-member board met for the first time on Monday — but there is a list of email address of all members in case you want to contact them about any concerns.
Glen Paul Freedman is the chair of the board, Terence McPhaul is vice-chair and Ebonee Bradford-Barnes is secretary.
“This site will include our meeting agendas, meeting minutes, advisory group member contact information, by-laws, events and additional information. This is a good step forward towards working together and a first for APD,” said Freedman in an email statement.
In the wake of recent crimes in the LGBT community, the APD hosts a public safety seminar tonight at Outwrite
Questions about the controversial Atlanta Eagle raid, the status of former LGBT liaison Dani Lee Harris and the appointment of a new liaison as well as how to rebuild trust between the LGBT community and the Atlanta Police Department were the main focus of today’s first meeting of the Atlanta Police Department’s newly formed GLBT advisory board.
Chief George Turner addressed the board this morning at its meeting at Saint Mark United Methodist Church, saying that a second LGBT liaison will be appointed soon to help Senior Patrol Officer Patricia Powell. But others wanted to know what happened to Dani Lee Harris, who has been on leave since April.
“If we are to establish trust between the community and the APD there has to be dialogue,” said board member Betty Couvertier, a longtime activist who hosts the LGBT radio show “Alternative Perspectives” on WRFG 89.3 FM. “We need to have information about Dani. We have talked to her and she’s not very happy and we need to take that into consideration. She is without pay.”
The panel will meet for the first time at Saint Mark United Methodist Church today
The Atlanta Police Department announced the first scheduled meeting of the city’s LGBT Advisory Board.
The panel will meet at Saint Mark United Methodist Church on Monday, Sept. 20, at 10 a.m. The meeting is open to the public.
The Atlanta Police Department continues to reach out to the LGBT community, as well as other segments of the city’s population, and ask for their help in solving all crimes. Crime Stoppers is the best way to give a tip to police to solve some of these crimes.
Senior Patrol Officer Powell, the police department’s LGBT liaison, will conduct a series of public safety seminars for LGBT people beginning Sept. 23 at Outwrite Bookstore & Coffeehouse.
The Atlanta Police Department will soon name a second LGBT liaison, the department announced Aug. 31, after previously insisting that APD already had two LGBT liaisons.
In the release, which also announces the members of the new nine-member LGBT advisory board, Mayor Kasim Reed “pledged to have the Atlanta Police Department appoint a second GLBT liaison.” Having two LGBT liaisons on the APD was a campaign promise he made last year while running for mayor.
However, what is not said in the release is what will happen to Dani Lee Harris, the former LGBT liaison who went on medical leave in April after she said suffered gran mal seizures.
The six male teens charged with felony armed robbery in the bias crime against a gay pastor and his friend will be charged as adults and face a bond hearing Aug. 19.
The teens, ages 13 through 19, have been indicted for felony armed robbery and were arraigned Aug. 2 in Fulton Superior Court when the bond hearing was set.
Those charged are Sam Johnson, 17; Benjamin Johnson, 16; and Daequan Lewis, 15, who are all listed as living at the same residence in Stone Mountain. Also charged is Jarvis Johnson, 19, of Parkway Drive in Atlanta. Sam Johnson was identified by APD as the gunman. Atlanta Police reports identified Jamal Bryant, 13, and Tyrone Smith, 16, as two other suspects who are also charged as adults.
The six teens charged with a bias-crime attack on a gay Atlanta pastor at Piedmont Park will be tried as adults. Four of the teens are minors. The youngest is 13 years old.
Several readers have reached out to us to express their views on the charges. Some readers, like Twitter user @jcstarr are happy with the decision to charge the teens as adults. “GOOD!!! I hope the judge throws the book at them,” he wrote via Twitter.
Several of our Facebook fans supported the charges, as well.
Acting Atlanta Police Chief George Turner understands there is a rift between LGBT residents and his department, and he hopes a town hall meeting organized by the police and openly gay Atlanta City Council member Alex Wan will help mend that fracture.
The meeting was scheduled for July 22, after Georgia Voice press time.
“We’ve not had a specific meeting for the GLBT community and so we felt it appropriate to building a relationship,” Turner said July 19.
“We’re getting the LGBT advisory board back up and want to work on a partnership,” Turner said.
The nine-member board may start meeting as soon as this fall, said Senior Patrol Officer Patricia Powell, the department’s new LGBT liaison.