(Image from Kissimmee.gov)
KISSIMMEE, Fla. | The Kissimmee Police Department have launched a Safe Space program for the city’s LGBTQ residence who feel they are facing discrimination and or the possibility of a hate crime.
The program mirrors the Orlando Police Department’s LGBTQ Safe Place program established in 2016 and will provide decals “as a visible symbol of safety” for businesses to place in their store fronts “to mark and identify locations that are accessible to LGBTQ members.”
The stickers have a Kissimmee Police badge on the left side with “Safe Space” written in the middle and a Progressive Pride flag with the phrase “Everyone is Welcome Here.” The bottom of the sticker provides the KPD website with more information on the program.
“It is vital to ensure everyone in our community feels welcome and knows they will be treated with dignity and respect,” the KPD website reads. “The businesses will serve as a place for anyone in the LGBTQ who feel unsafe or need to report a crime to seek assistance.”
KPD has partnered with the LGBT+ Center in Kissimmee to provide specialized training for locations that choose to participate in the Safe Space program. In addition to dispatching officers to the Safe Space location if anyone needs assistance, the KPD LGBTQ Liaison Coordinator will be notified.
“I know when I was a kid growing up, I knew how uncomfortable I was walking up to businesses sometimes because I didn’t know how I was going to be treated. To have that visual cue on the door to know ‘OK, I am welcome here,’” Lt. Erika Castellucci, KPD’s LGBTQ Liaison Coordinator, said in an interview with WESH 2.
Kissimmee businesses that wish to participate in the program can fill out a form at the KPD website at Kissimmee.gov or email Castellucci at Erika.Castellucci@Kissimmee.gov.
