Jan 16, 2009  |  By: Lou Chibbaro Jr.  | COMMENTS     

Officials with Gays & Lesbians Opposing Violence said they would ask D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and Police Chief Cathy Lanier in a meeting today to strengthen the city’s efforts to curtail hate crimes — especially hate crimes against gay and transgender people.

Fenty and Lanier agreed to GLOV’s request for the Jan. 16 meeting following a series of recent violent incidents against gays, including the killing of two gay men, which occurred in Washington during the past six months.

“GLOV will be briefing the mayor on our concerns with hate crimes against GLBT people in D.C., including the recording of, investigations and prosecution of crimes as witnessed in recent cases,” said GLOV co-chair Chris Farris.

“We would like to hear from the mayor that he understands our concerns and recognizes that there is an issue here in D.C.,” Farris said. “We will ask the mayor to exert strong leadership to reduce these crimes and to use his leadership to help us utilize the necessary resources to combat anti-GLBT hate crimes.”

Farris and GLOV’s other co-chair, Todd Metrokin, said the group has had a productive and cordial relationship with Lanier and acting Lt. Brett Parson, who heads the department’s community liaison office.

Parson, who is gay, oversees the department’s Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit and has monitored the recent cases of anti-gay violence.

In a City Council hearing last month on hate crimes, Farris and Metrokin testified that certain police officers involved with some recent cases did not properly list assaults or threats as hate crimes. Parson testified that an internal police review process corrected the misreporting in most of the cases.

“We believe at this point that we have a productive — even if imperfect — relationship with the Metropolitan Police Department, thanks in large part to Chief Lanier and Brett Parson,” Farris said.
“That being said, we will ask Chief Lanier to explain her views on combating anti-GLBT hate crimes, and we will ask that she institute immediate and mandatory training updates for all MPD officers in two areas.”

One of the areas, Farris said, is the recognition and reporting of hate crimes. The other is sensitivity among police officers in dealing with gay and transgender victims of crimes.

“We do think there is still a lot of work to do, but the fact that the police department has been so transparent, communicative, and responsive is encouraging,” he said. “It is too soon to say how the mayor is responding.

“While we haven’t heard from him on this matter in any significant way, we do think this meeting is a promising sign that he will take a leadership position to protect D.C.’s GLBT citizens and put a stop to the violence that is plaguing our community.”