Tampa’s Safe Place initiative sticker and Det. Christie Shiver. (Photos courtesy the Tampa Police Department)
TAMPA | The Tampa Police Department will hold Pride with the Police June 28 at 9 a.m. at CAN Community Health, highlighting their efforts to protect the LGBTQ+ community.
Pride with the Police will be presented in partnership with the Tampa Bay LGBT Chamber. Attendees will be able to meet Detective Christie Shiver, TPD’s LGBTQ+ liaison, while learning about the department’s Safe Place initiative and networking with LGBTQ+ business leaders.
Shiver became LGBTQ+ liaison in March of this year. She initially started out as a 911 operator and dispatcher and became a law enforcement officer with TPD in 2015.
The LGBTQ+ liaison’s purpose is “to strengthen the relationship between the members of Tampa’s LGBTQ+ community and their public servants in the Tampa Police Department,” she says. As liaison, Shiver proudly serves as the bridge between the community of which she’s a part and the city’s police department.
“If I can humanize the person behind the badge for one community member who may have had previous hesitation in reaching out to law enforcement, that is a successful development in a public service relationship,” she explains.
Shiver will detail her role and what the position means for the community at Pride with the Police. She notes that “two-way communication allows the department to showcase its commitment to fair and inclusive policing, while also creating a safe space for anyone in the LGBTQ+ community to ask questions, voice concerns and build positive relationships with officers.”
The event will also introduce the new Safe Place decals for businesses registered in the program. Unregistered businesses will have the opportunity to learn about TPD’s initiative and register if interested.
The program’s mission is to provide the community with easily accessible places they can turn to if they are a victim of crime by providing colorful decals to place at the entrances of Tampa establishments. The decal was recently updated and mirrors TPD’s “newest commemorative badge authorized by the department to strengthen bonds with the community.”
The badge features the Progressive Pride colors, are not taxpayer-funded and are voluntarily worn by officers on authorized dates throughout the year. View photos of Shiver wearing the badge below, taken by Watermark at this year’s Pride in Business luncheon:
“The Pride badge is not just about optics, the goal is to open dialogue and provide a conversation starter between those in the community and the officers of the department,” Shiver says. “Wearing commemorative badges is a visual way for officers to demonstrate their commitment to Community Oriented Policing.”
Shiver hopes initiatives like this and events like Pride with the Police will reinvigorate the Safe Place program.
“I am here to listen to your concerns, answer your questions and be a resource for the LGBTQ+ community,” she says. “Whether you have had a positive or negative experience with the police, I want to hear about it.
“Most importantly, if you have been the victim of a crime, we want you to feel safe reporting that to any member of the Tampa Police Department,” she continues. “… Ultimately, my goal is to create a more inclusive community for everyone and to ensure that in Tampa we are all safer, together.”
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Pride with the Police is a free event that will take place June 28 at 9 a.m. at CAN Community Health, located at 2501 N. Nebraska Ave. in Tampa. For more information about TPD’s Safe Place initiative, click here.
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