With a wave of recent crimes against LGBT people and safety issues consistently a community concern, it’s perhaps more important than ever that the police department’s community-outreach team be well-versed in what it means to be LGBT.
To achieve that aim, on Oct. 10 the Philadelphia LGBT Police Liaison Committee hosted an LGBT-awarneess training for nearly 50 community-relations and victims-assistance police officers.
“This was the first time for citywide community-relations personnel,” committee secretary Rick Lombardo said.
The committee sought to educate participants on its work to bridge the gap between the LGBT and law-enforcement communities, and the unique issues facing LGBT victims.
Committeemembers Franny Price, Fred Bostwick, Jaci Smith and Brian Green all took part in the presentations.
“We wanted to give all of our different perspectives,” Lombardo said.
The committee provided a wealth of useful information regarding LGBT organizations and the many facets of the community.
“We talked to them about LGBT youth and how to be politically correct,” Price said. “We let them know the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity.”
The overall response to the training was positive, Lombardo said, and participants offered intelligent comments and questions.
“A lot of them know what is already going on, but this was meant to educate in the process,” Lombardo said. “We wanted to educate them on who we are, our terms, our history.”
Price, chair of the committee, agreed that the response was “different” because those present were seasoned, experienced officers.
She added that at past meetings, the committee would pack up and leave shortly after its presentation, but this time members stayed to answer a number of questions the officers had.
“I think they got a lot of LGBT diversity awareness and pretty much learned what we’re all about,” Price said.
The committee distributed a short survey after its presentation and received good feedback.
Lombardo said Deputy Commissioner Stephen Johnson, LGBT liaison, was instrumental in organizing the event.
“He really put this together. If there is an issue, he reacts very fast,” Lombardo said. “He really spearheaded this project.”
Lombardo added he hopes the trainings helped educate the officers on both the issues and the best way to respond to them.
“Overall, there was an excellent mix of people,” he said. “I hope they learned to treat other people like their own family.”