Hate crime reports highlight broken trust

As the path for marriage equality is coming into focus across the nation and here in Colorado, Denver’s LGBT leaders and activists, and the authorities are working through a fog of mistrust to find a formula to prevent bias–motivated crimes.

Two surveys, reviewed by Out Front, that could provide the best insight to the scope of the problem yield more questions than answers.

The first report, issued by the Colorado Anti-Violence Program in partnership with the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, showed a decrease in statewide anti–LGBT and queer violence.

CAVP clocked 77 reports of alleged hate crimes in 2012, compared to 90 in 2011. That’s 14 percent fewer incidents.

Most incidents reported by CAVP were volunteered by survivors and victims. In some instances, CAVP also tracked crimes reported in the news media.

And while a statistical decline might sound like cause for celebration, CAVP officials fear the reason for fewer reports is due, in part, to a lack of awareness of the nonprofit’s mission to track crimes and provide services to survivors, and skepticism that reporting such crimes would result in better justice for the victims.

Further, the report goes on to illustrate the most marginalized members of the LGBT and queer communities – transgender individuals – are now more frequently targeted for violence.

“Transgender survivors and victims were 22 percent of total reports, a 143 percent increase from 2011,” the report said.

CAVP tracked 17 reports of anti–trans violence in 2012, compared to seven cases in 2011.

The report does not provide insight to whether official police reports were filed and investigated.

The nonprofit also reported a 100 percent increase in incidents of police violence or harassment from around the state. There were 10 total reports filed with CAVP in 2012, compared to five in 2011.

Meanwhile, data provided to Out Front by the Denver Police Department showed the number of alleged anti–LGBT acts of violence committed in the City and County of Denver remained statistically the same in 2011 and 2012. There were 14 total incidents perceived to be motivated by prejudice investigated by DPD in 2012, compared to 15 in 2011.

According to the same report, DPD did not investigate any incidents involving anti–trans bias.

To be fair, the reports are not to be compared directly to one another, but the discrepancies point to what might be the larger problem of a lack of cooperation and shared information by stakeholders with the same aim: to prevent violence.

In separate interviews, both CAVP and DPD officials agree progress has been made to repair the erosion of trust between Denver authorities and the LGBT community, but more still needs to be done.

“The bias unit in Denver is very good,” said CAVP’s Director of Advocacy Sandhya Luther. “The problem with the relationship is the mistrust of accountability when its come to the most high-profile cases.”

Denver has two officers who are specially trained in investigating bias motivated crimes.

Luther specifically referred to the Michael DeHerrera case in which two Denver police officers were in 2009 caught on tape, apparently unprovoked, beating the gay man after they had arrested his friend. The officers were relieved of their duties, given their jobs back and then, in 2012, fired again after Denver’s Civil Service Commission ruled they should have never been given their jobs back.

DPD Chief of Staff Lt. Matthew Murray said the department has, since Chief Robert White was hired in late 2011, implemented changes to rebuild community trust.

So far, every member of the force has had to reapply for their jobs, every officer has gone through a “Respective” class that enforces respect for different perspectives, and about 30 percent of DPD’s 205 sergeants have completed a three-week leadership course.

There is also new policy on how the department investigates reports of police misconduct, Murray said.

Since the new policy went into effect in 2012, 60 percent of all cases of police misconduct have been closed in about half the time those cases previously took, Murray said. The department is still developing how to measure the satisfaction of alleged victims.

“Do we have the community’s trust yet? Probably not,” Murray said. “But that’s what we’re continuing to work toward.”

CAVP’s Luther said she hopes the department will institute more training to break down officer’s own biases.

“I feel like we keep saying the same thing, and nothing is changing,” Luther said. “One hour of training can only scratch the surface. It’s not enough time to deal with what might be very deep homophobia.”

In turn, Murray said the DPD needs more cooperation from the community in reporting possible crimes and misconduct.

“You have a police chief willing to listen, but you have to talk,” Murray said. “We can’t make changes if we don’t have (the public’s) feedback.”

CAVP has had one meeting with White, Luther said, and that he asked her organization to bring any reports of police misconduct directly to him. One of the six alleged victims of DPD misconduct CAVP tracked in 2012 has asked for a review.

Another organization working to strengthen ties between DPD and the LGBT community is the Mayor’s GLBT Commission.

The commission has met privately with White, hosted a community stakeholder breakfast the GLBT Community Center of Colorado and in August will participate in a citizens academy with new recruits to discuss LGBT issues.

The commission’s chairman, Sam Cole, said his organization has recommended a multi–pronged approach to establishing better relations between DPD and the LGBT community, which include:  reestablishing lines of communication, increasing LGBT-sensitivity training for rank and file officers and hiring more out LGBT officers.

But, Cole pointed out, solving bias motivated crimes and police misconduct is tied to the larger issue of ending outright discrimination by society at-large.

“What we’re really asking is ‘how do we overcome hate?’” he said. “That can take a lifetime.”