COVINGTON, Ky. — Just ahead of Pride Month, Covington police added another LGBTQ+ liaison to its patrol. It was days before NKY Pride in Mainstrasse.
"Everyone was very receptive," said police specialist Doug Ullrich. "I got to meet a lot of people, shake a lot of hands, be out in the community and help interface the police department with people in the LGBTQ+ community."
Ullrich joined one of the department's original LGBTQ+ community liaisons, Lt. Jennifer Rudolph. She's been in the role since 2016, when she and then-assistant chief Rob Nader started the unit.
"This is just like another resource that we have with ways and avenues to respond to people who are in crisis," Rudolph said.
The pair specialize in building relationships with the community and focusing on breaking down barriers with police when its members become victims of crimes.
"Having liaisons with the community, I think just is one step that we can take to ensure that occurs," Ullrich added.
The department looked to expertise from across the river when the liaison jobs launched. Cincinnati Police Department has had LGBTQ community liaisons since 2013. Covington also turned to the NKY Pride Center and its director Bonnie Meyer.
"The need for the police department to be part of and involved in the community is obvious," Ullrich said.
But relations between law enforcement and the LGBTQ+ community have historic strains. Enforcement of strict and cruel laws meant to criminalize being gay or gender non-conforming people sometimes led to violence. An anti-police riot at New York City's Stonewall Inn in June 1969 is widely credited with starting the modern Pride movement.
Some Pride parades have banned uniformed law enforcement.
"I think, though, when we have officers in the City of Covington who have been allies and supporters that it's important to recognize that, that they're here doing the work," said Covington resident A.J. Miller. "And it's important to build on those relationships."
Miller's already had interactions with Ullrich during planning for the NKY Pride Festival at the beginning of the month. Miller is the festival chair.
"It just adds more of a contact that we can have here in the city of Covington," he said.
And, like in the Cincinnati Police Department, the liaisons are finding their work isn't limited to the community outside the walls of the department. They're helping educate fellow officers, too. One example: language, including pronouns.
"Being familiar with how people want to be referred to, using their proper pronouns and I think that was a big thing with educating ourselves," said Rudolph.
Ullrich agrees.
"A lot of it comes down to just trying to have open and frank conversations," he said. "People we work with who are not as familiar with how to deal with people in the community and how to have that open and respectful conversation and also with community members on how to interact with police."
With Ullrich's addition, there is a liaison on patrol at nearly every hour of the day.
The Covington Police LGBTQ+ liaisons can be reached by email at jrudolph@covingtonky.gov and dullrich@covingtonky.gov.
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