Community Services Unit Officers Frank Romayo, left, and Bret Wagner, right, meet with a community member.
WEST ORANGE, NJ — Over the past few years, the West Orange Police Department has made a concerted effort to improve its relationship with members of the LGBTQI community and how the department responds and serves them, according to a June 15 press release.
“We were fully aware that a lack of trust and understanding between police officers and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex community was and still remains a persistent challenge nationwide,” WOPD Chief James P. Abbott said. “We also knew that many law enforcement agencies across the nation had never taken the extra effort to educate and train their employees on how to interact with these communities. Law enforcement on the whole, has a legal, moral and ethical responsibility to ensure all segments of society are protected. Equally important is the individual perception that one is safe. This belief or perception will only thrive when those who have entrusted us with their safety have confidence in us and see us as a beacon of hope that the United States Constitution does in fact mean what it purports to.”
The West Orange Police Department’s commitment has included a new approach to training, constructing a new policy with guidance from LGBTQI experts, instituting the new position of department LGBTQI liaison and putting into effect the Safe Place Program.
“Our efforts began with agencywide training in 2017 on how to respond to violence and victims in LGBTQI communities,” said Capt. Richard McDonald, the commander of the Office of Professional Development and Community Affairs. “Although we already had policies and annual training on the fair treatment of all persons regardless of their protected status, we did acknowledge that we needed to educate our officers in areas such as the proper use of pronouns, respecting an individual’s gender identity through word choices, and using accurate terminology and terms.”
This training was provided to all sworn WOPD officers during 2017 and has been added as part of orientation training for all new officers upon hiring.
As agency training developed, McDonald realized that the department needed an entire new policy to address the changing culture of law enforcement and the department’s interactions with members of the LGBTQI community. He used his personal contacts to reach out to Garden State Equality, the largest LGBTQI advocacy organization in New Jersey, with more than 150,000 members.
“In order to be at the forefront of law enforcement and ensure we were providing the best possible service to members of these communities, I knew that we needed to listen to the experts in this area for guidance,” McDonald said. “Their policy guidance was instrumental in the development of our procedures. We are very grateful for their time.”
With training and a new policy in effect, McDonald and members of the WOPD Community Affairs Division knew that the next step was getting out into the community and opening lines of communication. Stepping up to the challenge was Officer Karen Roach-Mango, who volunteered to be the department’s first LGBTQI liaison. As the WOPD’s first female Latina officer, Roach-Mango was familiar with how it feels to be an outsider looking into a new world.
“I have many friends in the LGBTQI community, and I really wanted to be a resource and point of contact to make them feel safe and let them know that the WOPD is always there for them,” Roach-Mango said.
Roach-Mango attended her first statewide meeting for law enforcement liaisons in spring 2020. Although the COVID-19 pandemic slowed down the program initially, Roach-Mango is in full swing now and was honored to be in attendance at the township’s recent pride flag raising.
As the final step, the WOPD’s Safe Place Program pinpoints locations as safe havens for individuals, victims or juveniles to visit if they feel they have been a victim of a hate crime or wish to avoid any unwanted situation.
Signage is being displayed by participating businesses and organizations that pledge to work closely with the West Orange Police Department to reduce hate crimes and encourage the reporting of all related offenses. These safe places will represent the support of a safe and secure location for individuals who wish to call the police or are awaiting the WOPD’s arrival.
The ability for citizens to call 9-1-1 and safely wait for police to respond is essential for holding suspects accountable and for reducing hate crimes and harassment in general. The goal of the program is to create an overwhelming townwide feeling of hope and inclusion when citizens see these signs hanging in the storefront of every township business, religious establishment, civic organization and public building in town.
Any business or organization interested in participating in the Safe Place Program should contact Sgt. Brad Squires of the WOPD Community Services Unit at bsquires@wopd.org or at 973-325-4038. Any community member interested in contacting the agency LGBTQI liaison may email Roach-Mango at kroach@wopd.org.
Photos Courtesy of West Orange
About the Author
