Fort Lauderdale Police Department’s LGBTQ+ Liaison Officer

Fort Lauderdale is home to one of the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual,
Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) communities in the country. Therefore, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department actively seeks to understand its LGBTQ+ community’s needs to ensure fair and equitable representation for all of our neighbors. The LGBTQ+ Liaison Officer strengthens the relationship between the LGBTQ+ community and the Fort Lauderdale Police Department by creating mutual trust and confidence in the Police through community involvement, departmental education, and the provision of fair and professional policing services.

What is the function of the LGBTQ+ Liaison Officer?

 The Fort Lauderdale LGBTQ+ Liaison Officer:

• Serves as a personal, single point of contact between the Fort Lauderdale Police Department and the LGBTQ+ community
• Assists, advises, and consults with the Fort Lauderdale Police Department leadership and other officers on cases involving the LGBTQ+ community or LGBTQ+ issues
• Provides training for members of the department on LGBTQ+ topics 
• Meets with and provides a forum for business owners, community groups, and individuals of the LGBTQ+ community, and presents information on relevant law enforcement issues
• Provides a forum for the LGBTQ+ community to express its concerns regarding crimes directed against the LGBTQ+ community
• Attends events in the community as a representative of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department 
• Collaborates with community leaders, residents and businesses to design and implement public safety projects and programs to establish a closer, more effective dialogue between the police and the LGBTQ+ community
• Identifies and attends training related to LGBTQ+ topics
• Facilitates an overall open relationship between the LGBTQ+ community and the Fort Lauderdale Police Department
• Serves as a resource to families with a “questioning” member who is in need of social support services but does not know how or where to obtain them

LGBTQ-related organizations that are willing to provide a service, act as a resource, or are interested in having a Fort Lauderdale Police Department LGBTQ+ Liaison attend their meeting should contact Officer Cristina Beltrani at CBeltrani@FortLauderdale.gov or 954-828-5477.