Portland Police Chief Danielle Outlaw chose Pride Week to announce her upcoming promotion of Stephanie Lourenco, the first transgender officer to hold the rank of captain in the police bureau.

Lourenco will supervise the bureau's traffic division. The promotion will become effective June 28.

Outlaw said she was impressed by Lourenco's leadership qualities and recognition of the importance of community engagement.

"Since its Pride Week, we wanted to highlight her accomplishments but do not want to diminish the fact that this promotion is based solely on her skills and abilities,'' Outlaw said in a prepared statement.

Lourenco joined the bureau on Aug. 12, 1999, and most recently served as a lieutenant in the family services division. She has volunteered as a Gang Resistance Education and Training instructor, helped teach "Perspectives on Profiling'' to officers and has been a part of the bureau's crisis intervention team.

In 2012, Lourenco volunteered to appear in the bureau's "It Gets Better" video, where officers shared their personal experiences as members of the LGBTQ community.



Twenty years ago, Lourenco founded Transgender Community of Police Officers/Sheriffs (TCOPS), with several other transgender police officers across the country. The group provides support and encouragement to its members.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian