Officer Darlene Harris, the LGBT liaison officer for the Atlanta Police Department, is one of several administrative officers whose jobs are being studied to determine if they are still necessary. (Photo by Bo Shell)
APD gay liaison, other admin. positions being evaluated Consulting company assessing all administrative positions within Atlanta P.D.
An
Atlanta-based
human
resources
consulting
company
is
assessing
all
administrative
positions
within
the
Atlanta
Police
Department,
including
the
LGBT
liaison,
to
determine
if
the
positions
are
still
necessary,
according
to
APD
spokesperson
Sgt.
Lisa
Keyes.
Keyes
said
there
is
no
intent
to
abolish
the
LGBT
liaison
position.
Officer
Darlene
Harris,
who
has
held
the
LGBT
liaison
post
since
2005,
also
confirmed
her
position,
as
well
as
other
administrative
positions,
are
being
evaluated.
“This
is
not
just
me,”
Harris
said.
“They
are
not
targeting
the
GLBT
position.
This
is
not
coming
from
the
department
internally.
The
company
is
doing
an
assessment
of
all
administrative
positions.
[Southern
Company]
is
seeing
what
we
do
and
if
there
is
justification
for
our
positions.”
The
City
of
Atlanta
currently
faces
a
serious
budget
shortfall.
When
the
Atlanta
City
Council
denied
a
plan
by
Mayor
Shirley
Franklin
to
raise
property
taxes
to
make
up
for
the
shortfall,
Franklin
decided
to
cut
city
spending
by
$21.6
million,
including
cuts
to
the
recreation
department,
the
closing
of
Fire
House
7
in
the
West
End,
and
cutting
53
vacant
police
officer
positions.
Keyes
would
not
comment
on
why
there
was
an
evaluation
of
administrative
positions
taking
place
at
APD
or
whether
it
had
anything
to
do
with
the
city’s
budget
shortfall.
Harris,
who
recently
came
out
as
intersex,
applied
earlier
this
month
to
have
her
name
legally
changed
to
a
more
gender
neutral
name:
Danni
Lee.
The
legal
name
change
takes
30
days
to
go
into
effect
and
will
take
place
later
this
month.
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