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Hampton Roads Police Dept.'s Reach Out to LGBT Community

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SUFFOLK, Va. (AP) - The Hampton Roads region now has six police departments with liaisons to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

The Virginian-Pilot reports Suffolk is one of the latest cities to join in. The liaisons who started there in January are detectives Tiffany Whitten, who is gay, and Sean Rowan, who is heterosexual. The city of Hampton recently created similar positions, as well.

The Suffolk detectives say it's important to maintain a line of communication with the community, whose members might not always feel comfortable talking to police.

Hampton Roads Pride, a nonprofit that serves the LGBT community, approached Suffolk about having liaisons. The president of the group says police departments have been very receptive.

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.