Chron.com – Robert Crowe
Officer requests a transfer ‘in the best interests of the department’
Nearly two months after transgender Houston police Sgt. Jack Oliver outed himself to colleagues, the officer has voluntarily transferred to the Emergency Communications Division until his transition from man to woman is complete.
“Whatever is deemed to be in the best interests of the department,” Oliver said through lawyer Phyllis R. Frye.
Frye emphasized that Oliver had voluntarily transferred to the dispatch center effective Tuesday to supervise dispatchers until the gender transition is complete.
“She remains employed and was received very well and courteously in her new position,” Frye wrote in response to e-mailed questions. “She is being treated well.
“She is working and presenting fully and full-time as a woman with a new police ID that has her woman’s photo.”
Sgt. Nate McDuell, a Houston Police Department spokesman, confirmed that the move was voluntary.
“She basically chose to transfer into that division and will be there until she tries to transfer somewhere else,” McDuell said. “She has the option of any officer to apply for a transfer and, if qualified, get it.”