Atlanta Police Dept. Establishes LGBT Advisory Board ATLANTA, GA (WABE) - This is Weekend Edition on 90.1 WABE. I'm Jim Burress.

This week, the Atlanta Police Department named nine men and women to a newly-formed advisory board. The members, all active in Atlanta's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender communities, will work with the police department's LGBT liaison. The hope is to identify issues and concerns between APD and Atlanta's LGBT population, then work towards solutions.

The formation of the advisory board represents the fulfillment of a promise by Senior Patrol Officer Patricia Powell, a 10-year APD veteran who was appointed the department's LGBT liaison four months ago.

"We need to have an open dialogue with the community," said Powell. "By having the advisory board, that would help us accomplish that."

Powell inherited the position after the department had, arguably, burned the last possible bridge with the community. Fallout from last September's controversial raid on the Atlanta Eagle left an already-tarnished relationship severely fractured. Powell admits the Eagle raid played a big part in the decision to establish the board.

"Any type of incident you have like that will put some type of stress on the department. By having the advisory board, I think that shows we're still trying to have that open dialogue with the community."

Powell says of the approximately 100 applications, she and Mayor Reed picked the nine board members because they reach a diversity of experiences and people within the gay community.

"I'm very excited," said appointee Molly Simmons. A former DeKalb County police officer, graduate of Emory Law School and active in the Human Rights Campaign, Simmons says she brings an understanding that different people within the community share different experiences. And police officers may not always understand what those are.

"There's a lot of opportunity for translation of experience and ways of interpreting reality there," said Simmons. She adds the board is a first step in helping APD understand some of those overlooked perspectives.

"People in the LGBT community will feel like there is someone who is speaking for them, in terms of interactions with the Atlanta Police Department. And I think that will help rebuild trust."

The board also includes a business owner, a transgender activist, a radio producer whose show focuses on LGBT issues, and a minister.

"The City of Atlanta Police Department, of course, has a responsibility to the public, and the public has a responsibility to hold the police department accountable," said Terence McPhaul, executive director of Youth Pride. "But we also have to hold ourselves accountable."

McPhaul adds that APD and the LGBT community share an obligation to improve communication.

"We should fully integrate the police department into the community so people feel comfortable talking to them, and they feel comfortable talking to the public," he said.

Beyond the diversity of backgrounds, McPhaul says there's a common thread linking his fellow board members.

"It's not an easy job to do, but these individuals also have experience building collaborations and building connections between people who typically did not work together before."

No matter how strong the nine members may be, the new LGBT advisory board is just that advisory. It has no policy-making or fiduciary power. And even before the board's first meeting, at least one person is questioning the transparency of the selection process.

"I simply just want to know, as do a lot of people within the LGBT community, how was the selection process conducted?" asked Charlie Stadtlander, a high school teacher and who unsuccessfully ran for the school board. He says several people nominated him for the LGBT advisory panel. He wasn't selected. And while he agrees the nine appointees are well-qualified, he says he never got the sense APD had formal standards for choosing the board.

"We all are questioning what the interview process was, how was the selection process conducted, and what criteria was actually used to select the panel?"

LGBT liaison Powell admits the selection process was informal, but stands behind her decisions. She says the nine members will allow APD to reach communities that, in the past, may not have had a line of communication with the department. And while it will take time, dialogue, and some say an apology from APD for past wrongs, most agree the board has the potential to begin rebuilding those burnt bridges.

The advisory board's first meeting is Sept. 20th, and is open to the public.
Jim Burress, WABE News.





© Copyright 2012, WABE