Lifetime Achievement Award | DS Tracy O’Hara QPM
Lifetime Achievement Award – Detective Sergeant Tracy O’Hara QPM
Former Co-Chair of the National LGBT+ Police Network, Tracy O’Hara has been recognised with a lifetime achievement award from Liverpool Pride. Tracy is the Co-Chair of the Merseyside Police LGBT+ Network, taking on the role in 2003 where they’ve been campaigning for LGBT+ equality and inclusion on a local, national and international level from before then to today.
Tracy joined Merseyside Police in 1996 “to be Christine Cagney” and had early aspirations to be a Detective. She worked in the City Centre for the first 5 years in a job that she loved, but an environment that she hated; one filled with homophobia, fear and secrecy. Tracy was not out and after 5 years was planning to leave Merseyside Police. Fortunately, a friend pointed her towards the Gay and Lesbian Support Network (as it was known at the time). For the first time in her career, Tracy saw people like her, but also people who were striving to change the Police into an organisation that respected difference, and she jumped right in.
Tracy has led the Network through a range of challenging and engaging moments, including the murder of Michael Causer in 2008, achieving 8th place in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index in 2009, getting Merseyside Police to allow officers to march in uniform at Liverpool Pride in 2011 and convincing the organisation to have a ‘Police with Pride’ car within their operational fleet.
Tracy became chair of the newly formed National LGBT+ Police Network in 2015, remaining in role until 2020. She has been named Police Officer of the Year, International Police Officer of the Year and was awarded a Queens Policing Medal for distinguished services to policing in 2017. She has also received what can only be described as the ultimate award for a commitment to diversity when she was namechecked in an article in the Daily Mail in 2009.
Tracy’s Key Achievements
Red Umbrella
Red Umbrella was a partnership between Merseyside Police and The Armistead Centre focussing on supporting and engaging with sex workers across Merseyside. Merseyside Police treats all crimes against sex workers as hate crimes, and Tracy was the lead police officer for the project which ran for four years, building links with the community and earning the trust of people who fear the Police and do not report crimes against them due to concerns about how they will be treated.
Liverpool Pride
Tracy led the LGBT+ Network during its negotiations with Merseyside Police about being able to march at Liverpool Pride. For the first year, staff were not allowed to march in uniform and had a contingent of 8 people in Police With Pride polo shirts. Fast forward a few years and over 100 officers, staff and volunteers including the Chief Constable joined Merseyside Police to march through the streets of Liverpool.
Setting the National Agenda
During her time as chair of the LGBT+ Network, Tracy convinced then Assistant Chief Constable Julie Cooke to take on the portfolio lead for LGBT+ equality in the (now) National Police Chief’s Council. A strong, positive working relationship led to trans guidance for the policing sector bring published, including on supporting trans staff at work, the rights of trans staff when searching and recommendations on uniform and internal records.
Untold: The Police
In 2021, Tracy participated in a national advertising campaign, where the Home Office partnered with Channel 4 to record three short interviews where young people interviewed a police officer to gain insight into what their role is like today. Tracy was spoken to about the need to create a more diverse and representative police force.
Flying the Rainbow Flag
Merseyside Police flew the rainbow flag at its Headquarters building in Liverpool City Centre for the first time to mark the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia in 2008. The decision itself was relatively simple at the time, however Merseyside Police were hit with a number of freedom of information requests demanding to know why this was authorised and what planning permission had been authorised to allow this. Chief Officers joked about having to become flag etiquette experts, however through both Tracy’s perseverance and a supportive chief officer team, Merseyside Police continued to fly the rainbow flag year on year, and respond to the freedom of information requests, year on year.
You can read more about Tracy in her role as European Representative for the National LGBT+ Police Network here.
