PC Sharp’s Epaulettes
PC Dan Sharp is the LGBT Liaison Officer for Metropolitan Police, South Area. His job is to keep the LGBT+ community informed of the work the police are doing, and report back any feedback or concerns raised. He has been working with Croydon’s LGBT+ Police Consultation group Aurora since 2013, and donated images of his
Pride Epaulettes, which have been worn by officers attending Croydon Pride.
The following picture and text was donated in September 2020.
“I joined Croydon as a PC in 2010, taking on the role of LGBT liaison officer in 2013 (I was even a resident of Croydon for some time!). The liaison role has been on a voluntary basis whilst I still had to do the day job on the Emergency response team. This can be challenging at times but I am lucky to have had great support from my management who give me the time to attend community meetings, public events and meeting victims of crime.
Croydon now forms part of the South Area command unit which saw us merge with Sutton and Bromley in 2019. As a result, the amazing LGBT advisers from the other Boroughs have come together to ensure we offer the same support to both our colleagues and residents across the command. We are all committed to making sure we are here for the LGBT community, be it as a victim of hate crime, domestic abuse or just general support and guidance. Even when members of the community are reluctant to approach us, we are able to engage through a third party with the help of Galop. This has allowed us to form good working partnerships with the charity and other great organisations.
Our LGBT advisers are not only proud to be from the LGBT community but we are proud to be police officers. We Police with Pride. This is evident in our involvement in Croydon Pride Fest and our commitment to be here to support the residents of Croydon, Sutton and Bromley. COVID has had a big impact in how we operate and how we engage with the community. This has been frustrating but we are hopeful to be reunited with everyone soon.
Looking ahead, we wish to continue working with the other LGBT organisations that exist across all three boroughs. I’m hopeful we can all come together and give us the opportunity to learn amongst each other, share our experiences, ideas and passion in supporting our community.”
I asked Dan if he had any key information regarding issues LGBT+ people might come across during lockdown.
“There are numerous support networks across London that can offer further assistance to members of the LGBT community. GALOP play a key part in this and we usually will refer victims of homophobic / transphobic crime to them if we feel they would benefit from this additional support. The Bridge LGBT Forum is another organisation we work with (they are run by Metro group) that runs for people aged between 11-25. This is a brilliant charity that helps support the younger members of the LGBT community that may suffer with issues within their family environment and need further advice.
As always, we are dedicated in providing the best support and advice to the LGBT community who are subject of hate crimes, the same still applies whilst we are in lockdown. Once the lockdown is lifted we will ensure that we begin to reconnect with members of our community and promote the reporting of hate crime to us.”
by Dan Sharp, Police Constable.
By the early-2000’s the LGBT+ community’s relationship with the police had reached an all-time low when reports revealed that several investigations into homophobic murders had been hampered by institutional homophobia. Cases of murder involving members of the LGBT+ community from Croydon include Ronald Eades murdered in Addington Hills in 1992, Jaap Bornkamp of Norbury murdered in New Cross Gate in 2000, and Geoffrey Windsor who was found murdered in Beaulieu Heights in 2002.
To improve the relationship between the LGBT+ community and the police, Croydon developed its own LGBT+ Police Consultation group Aurora in 2003. The aims were to work alongside the police on issues such as homophobia, hate crime and domestic violence. The group continues to meet every 2 months to this day, and have been present at Croydon Pride, Brighton Pride, IDAHO Day and Transgender Day Of Remembrance.
In 2006 A key document ‘Which Loo?’ was published by Aurora and endorsed by The Metropolitan police, advising transgender people on safety measures for using public toilets.