By John Hayden
To Protect & Serve. It’s a motto many police departments say, but often falls short. The LGBTQIA+ community has had, at best, a spotty relationship with law enforcement. Now Fort Lauderdale has a chief that is protecting and serving the entire community.
Bill Schultz is a longtime member of the FLPD and ascended to Chief in November. Now, four months into his tenure, Chief Schultz is looking at quick accomplishments and the mountain of work left to do.
The openly gay chief has long been a proponent of the LGBTQIA+ community, but not to the exclusion of other communities. When he first took the job, he talked of making sure all groups are not only represented, but heard. He talked of bringing officers from the Black community, the Hispanic community, and the LGBTQIA+ community to the forefront of the department. Each has its own organization and is thriving.
“All three groups are fully functional and active,” he told OutClique. “We were all present at the Sistrunk Festival and I recently hosted an LGBTQ talkback session at Bubbles & Pearls.”
While not the first gay man to lead the department, he is the first LGBTQIA+ leader with his wide range of experience and training. He has 23 years of experience in law enforcement and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and the Police Executive Research Forum’s Senior Management Institute for Police.
Recognizing crimes as hate crimes is a special skill. While, yes, it is easy for officers to willfully ignore the signs, it is more common that officers aren’t even trained to spot them. Schultz is at work to change that. “We are going to start sending officers with specific hate crimes training to the scenes of reported hate crime so that we document it correctly. We also want to get the victim services immediately to deal with the trauma they just went through.”
Schultz believes inclusivity is an important part of his mission. Often, citizens feel more policed than served. He wants a force that reflects the community they protect.
“I have a group that’s going to be my advisory group on those matters from here on out.”
Even out of uniform, Schultz is an outstanding and bright representative of the LGBTQIA+ community. Last summer he held a series of birthday parties. While they technically celebrated his special day, the events were really celebrations of the community.
“It’s very important. It needs to be known that certain officials in government, either elected or appointed, have very strong connections in different ways. I make a point of making my presence known at (non-official) events.”
Recently, he organized a concert at Sunshine Cathedral for the Performing Arts featuring legendary cabaret artist Anne Steele. She was one of the entertainers at his birthday celebrations and he considers her a friend. “I know how absolutely committed she is to our community in New York, so I wanted to bring her down here.”
Schultz knows that it’s one thing to build trust with a community, and another to keep it. He says the first step will take a long time, and the second must be a fresh effort every day.
Chief Bill Schultz loves his community and earned his spot as leader of the FLPD force and in the community. He pledges to make sure every member of the community and every letter in the acronym is seen, heard, and represented. While FLPD has seen a lot of turnover at the top, homegrown Schultz is in it for the long haul, good times and bad.
