Fort Worth Police Chief Jeff Halstead this week announced that Officer Kellie Whitehead, at left, has been named the department’s new LGBT community liaison officer. She replaces former liaison Officer Sara Straten, who was assigned to the position in the wake of the Rainbow Lounge raid in 2009 and who left the position to return to patrol.
Whitehead has been with the FWPD since 1999and has spent the last six years as a neighborhood police officer in the department’s South Division.
In a written statement released late Wednesday, Sept. 28, Halstead said: “This position has been very successful for our department and for our city. At the time we introduced this position, there were challenges in many parts of our community and relationships were broken. When Sara Straten volunteered to be transferred to the Chief’s office and assume this role, she had no idea how important her job would be for the future of our department. Kellie will continue in the service-based legacy that Sara started. The strength of our profession is that we are made up of thousands of different personalities. We are so proud of what Sara accomplished in her position and we are excited what a new set of eyes will bring as well.”
Watch Dallas Voice next Friday, Oct. 7, for a complete profile on Officer Whitehead.
