People accused of committing minor crimes in the Gayborhood may soon be required to pay restitution not in monetary fines, but rather through community-service hours served directly in the neighborhood.
During the Police Liaison Committee last Thursday, 6th District Officer Joe Ferrero unveiled a proposed plan by out Court of Common Pleas Judge Dan Anders for the launch of a night-court system in the Washington Square West neighborhood.
According to Ferrero, Anders, who is on vacation and could not be reached for comment, would serve as judge for the court, which would be open from 1-4 a.m. on certain days.
Those accused of summary offenses, such as prostitution-related crimes, would come before Anders and be sentenced to community service at 501 (c)(3) nonprofits that operate out of the Gayborhood.
Anders currently presides over a night court in the 17th District once a month.
Franny Price, chair of the committee, which works to develop relations between the police and the LGBT community, said the community-service sentences would be a realistic substitute for fines, which often go unpaid and spiral into further problems.
“Right now, a lot of people don’t pay the fines and then there will be bench warrants issued for them and then they feel they have to avoid police and often can’t contact police if they’re in need of assistance,” Price said.
The community agencies would need to agree to take on the volunteers.
If those sentenced to community service are LGBT, Price said ordering them to perform service at community organizations could stave off problems they could experience at other assigned community-service projects.
“If they are trans people or gays and lesbians, I think it’s important for sensitivity reasons to have them working with LGBT groups,” she said. “Sometimes you can really get a sense of belonging by working with these groups, which can help them out a lot.”
Not all of the crimes committed in the neighborhood are by community members; however, Price said, exposing non-LGBTs to the community’s culture could also be beneficial.
Price noted that in the 1990s, a man vandalized 12th Street Video while yelling antigay epithets, but he was singing a different tune after being sentenced to community service at the William Way LGBT Community Center.
“I remember he had to paint the center for a week and by the end of that week, he was calling me ‘Miss Franny,’” she said. “I think when he saw how nice and respectful people in our community were of him, it made him change how he was acting.”
Anders is expected to attend next month’s Police Liaison Committee meeting to discuss the proposal in more detail.
Ferrero and Sgt. Dominic LaRose briefed the committee on crimes and arrests in the Gayborhood, including four prostitution arrests and three robberies in the past few weeks. Two arrests were made in one of the robbery cases.
Deputy Commissioner Stephen Johnson, LGBT police liaison and head of Internal Affairs, updated the committee on the progress of the IA investigation into a complaint by Luis Berrios and Jason Mendez, who contend they were subjected to excessive force and antigay verbal assaults by police in December when officers came to investigate their domestic disturbance.
Johnson said Mendez, who is in police custody because his arrest violated his probation, and his mother, who filed the IA complaint, were not cooperating with investigators, and no one has come forward with film said to have been taken by a neighbor of the incident.
Johnson said that, even if the complaint is not sustained, if numerous complaints surface against an officer for verbal abuse, a history of unsubstantiated complaints can be enough to warrant a sustained claim.
“This will not go unaddressed. We’re going to follow up with Jason and his mother and try again. Obviously something transpired in a negative context and we need to address that. This will not fall by the wayside.”
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].