Queensland Police Trains Officers To Support LGBT Victims
Image: Queensland Police trained 63 new personnel to support LGBTQI victims. Image: Supplied
Queensland police organised a training, earlier this week, for its police officers to support LGBTQI victims. The training comes close on the heels of Queensland Police revealing that it was working with Brisbane Pride to issue an apology for its past treatment of the LGBTQI community.
“We have sworn police, Police Liaison Officers and administration officers attending this course – all of whom are open to learning how they can better support people who identify as LGBTIQ+,” said LGBTI Liaison Program State Coordinator Sergeant Rodney Bell, Queensland Police Service (QPS) in a statement.
Around 63 police personnel gathered in Brisbane on Tuesday for the two-day course that dealt with various issues that impacted the LGBTQI community, including “mental health, domestic and family violence, youth issues, experiences of transgender people and support for intersex people”.
‘Everyone Deserves To Feel Safe’
The newly trained personnel will join the 150 existing LGBTI liaison officers, who are working in police stations across the state.
“The more we can raise awareness within the QPS of the particular issues faced by LGBTIQ+ people, the better we can work to address their areas of concern and prevent discrimination or vilification,” said Bell.
Senior Constable Tara Buckley from Cairns Police Station, who attended the training program, said it would help her to provide better support to LGBTQI people.
“As a general duties police officer, I encounter a variety of people each day, all of whom have diverse needs and experiences we can assist with,” Buckley said. “Everyone deserves to feel safe and that they can approach the police when they need us.”
Queensland Police Face Allegations Of Sexism, Homophobia
Over the past year, the Queensland police have faced increasing questions about how it handles victims of domestic crimes and the persisting discriminatory attitudes of some police officers towards LGBTQI people.
In July 2022, ABC reported that a four-month investigation had heard that Queensland police officers avoided attending domestic violence call outs and made derogatory, sexist and misogynistic comments about female victims, including comments like “she’s too ugly to be raped”.
Last year, Queensland police launched another investigation after it was revealed that its current and former officers were part of a Facebook group, that was littered with homophobic, sexist and racist jokes.
Marching In Uniform In Brisbane Pride
For the second year in a row, the police agreed not to march in Brisbane Pride on September 24, 2022, in uniform.
In a joint statement with the Brisbane Pride organisers, the police had said they had not been able to finalise the apology to the LGBTQI community in time for this year’s Brisbane Pride Festival.
Police commissioner Katarina Carroll, who is leading the preparations for a formal apology, had said that she was committed to delivering the apology in consultation with community members, including serving LGBTQI police officers.
“Both the QPS and Brisbane Pride Inc remain committed to this process which would enable uniformed officers to show their pride by marching in uniform once again in 2023,” the joint statement had added.
