LAPD Officers Have Been Harassing Transgender People -- But They Promise to Stop

By Simone Wilson Fri., Apr. 13 2012 at 1:45 PM

Patrick Range McDonald

Justice for the trannies of WeHo.

The bad news: A new report out of UCLA's Williams Institute reveals "high levels of reported harassment and assault of Latina transgender women" by Los Angeles law enforcement, including the LAPD.

The good news: In a meeting in West Hollywood last night, LAPD officials announced some new measures they'll be taking to avoid transgender maltreatment in the future. Including, most ridiculously...

... "not making the assumption a transgender person is involved in prostitution."

Well there's a start! Among the other accommodations they'll be making, going forward:

Officers will operate under a new set of guidelines for how to interact with transgender individuals. The code will mandate "appropriate language, acknowledgment of an individual's preferred gender identity and expression [and] respect for privacy."
Officers will no longer pat down transgender individuals to determine their gender. Instead, according to CBS LA, they'll have to "rely on a transgendered person's clothing, language or demeanor to determine how to address the individual."
In a new girls-only wing at the LAPD's downtown Metropolitan Detention Center -- set to open by the end of April -- one section will be exclusively reserved for up to 24 transgender detainees.
Guards must provide the detainees with "male and female clothing and medical treatment, including hormones," according to the Los Angeles Times.

The changes are conveniently timed with an April 2012 report out of the Williams Institute, a branch of the UCLA law school that focuses on gay issues. (The only one of its kind in the country, FYI!)

Its disturbing conclusions are based on interviews with 220 transgender Latinas (male-to-female) over the age of 18 in Los Angeles County, conducted between December 2010 and June 2011.

Straight from the report:

Two-thirds reported verbal harassment by law enforcement.
Twenty-one percent reported physical assault by law enforcement.
Twenty-four percent reported sexual assault by law enforcement.
Of those lodging a report against the police, two-thirds stated that their report had been handled "poorly" or "very poorly."
Almost 60% of those stopped by law enforcement in the previous year believed that this had occurred without their violating any law. Many reported being stopped while doing everyday things like "coming back from the grocery store" and "waiting for the bus."
The vast majority (71%) described the police's interactions with the transgender community in negative terms. Typical responses included comments that police were aggressive and disrespectful and sometimes used male terms or called them "it."

So you can see where LAPD Chief Charlie Beck got the "acknowledgment of an individual's preferred gender identity" bit, among others.

The more concerning parts of the report deal with actual assault and sexual assault on the part of law enforcement. There are no particular details on these incidents -- the Latinas questioned likely didn't want to deal with the law/justice system any further than they already had -- but the report does show that they most often involved police, as opposed to sheriff's deputies or prison guards.

Williams Institute

This isn't to rail on the LAPD. At least they're vowing to try and fix the problem.

Meanwhile, the beleaguered L.A. County Sheriff's Department -- who patrols West Hollywood, L.A.'s premiere gayborhood -- is nowhere to be found. Ironically and embarrassingly, the LAPD highlighted the sheriff's absence by choosing WeHo as the venue for last night's outreach meeting.

Even San Francisco is impressed. A statement, today, from Masen Davis, executive director of the Transgender Law Center in NorCal:

"This is a huge victory for transgender people who may interact with the police, and for transgender inmates. It sets a great precedent for police departments nationwide. We often receive calls from people who have experienced police harassment and experienced violence in prison, so we are thrilled that the LAPD is taking steps to remedy this tragic situation."

[@simone_electra / swilson@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

Tags:

LAPD, transgender, Williams Institute

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Carolyn Marie Weiss

First of all, I agree with Adam and Jessica about the photo you used. Photos of trans people are easily found, and if your paper had bothered to send someone to the LGBT Community Forum you could have take your own photos. But you didn't. It's much safer to throw stones from a distance.

I found the tone of your article to be sarcastic, inaccurate in several respects, and unfair. First, the Forum wasn't held in West Hollywood, it was held in Hollywood, part of the LAPD's territory. Would it be so difficult to get your facts straight? Second, what's so "ridiculous" about the statement in the Notice regarding prostitution. That is a big deal, since transfolk who are arrested used to have the mere possession of a condom used as evidence of prostitution. I applaud the LAPD for making a very important statement.

As far as "convenient timing," this Notice has been in the works for months, following years of efforts by the Transgender-LAPD Working Group. I know because I am part of that group. How would the LAPD have known about when the UCLA study was going to be released? Isn't it just as plausible that the study authors are the ones who timed their release? The language you cited as coming from the UCLA study was suggested by the Working Group.

You don't like the LAPD, and you're entitled to your opinions. While I appreciate the article, you might try toning down the sarcasm and the vitriol just a bit. It might make reading the important stuff easier, and a little less like swallowing bile.

Jessica McGuinness

I'm a transgender advocate. I've been an EMT for over a decade and I speak at colleges about trans-issues. The point of me doing this is to paint a positive picture of the transgender community to people who have no exposure to us. We are always portrayed in the media as perverts, prostitutes or even murders. This complete lack of understanding has lead to people gaining a horrible stereotype of us that is simply not true. I've worked with several local police departments about LGBT issues. Police officers are exposed to the worst side of our community and they tend to believe the stereotypes as well because they lack that positive image to associate with us. I applaud LAPD for making steps into this direction.

However, I do have to agree with Adam. Look at my picture and then look at the picture that you posted. I am transgender and those are drag queens. You wrote such a positive article and then you post that picture. This is the type of negative stereotyping that I mentioned above. I've been done with my transition for many years and I walk by people and even talk to them everyday thay have no clue that I am trans. When you post a picture of gay men who dress as women for a performance instead of posting a picture of a real transgender person, you are telling the public that's who we are. This becomes an issue when ignorant politicians try to pass laws that ban us from public restrooms. They see this type of media and stir up support by saying "I don't want those men in the same bathroom as my wife". The truth is so far from that.

Again, I thank you for writing such a great article but please change the picture to something more appropriate. This is like writing an article about Hilary Clinton and posting a picture of Lady GaGa when she had nothing to do with the article. Can you see why this is such a problem?

Adam

This story is about Latina trans women being targeted by the police. Thank you for covering this important issue. But please realize that the cis gay men in drag in the accompanying photo have nothing to do with the story. Please stop painting trans women as men in drag. And for heaven's sakes stop using an oppressive term in an effort to sound hip. It's not. It's simply offensive.