Human diversity, discriminatory profiling, and bias in law enforcement

Discrimination in Law Enforcement: Lethal Consequences

The constitution guarantees life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness to all Americans, yet there is a group who endures a life without total liberty, restrictions on their choice of lifestyle and happiness, and unfair treatment which may even result in the untimely loss of their lives. This group of people currently facing discrimination and mistreatment is the gay and lesbian community of Washington D.C., and the perpetrators are the very people whose jobs are to ensure their safety. The law enforcement is not entirely protecting gays and lesbians in D.C., nor are they ensuring that they have basic human rights. The effects of discrimination or even just insensitivity in the police department can have catastrophic negative effects on the victims, the gay and lesbian community, and the city of D.C. As a whole. When people of certain minorities are not treated equally by the law, something must be done to improve this dangerous situation. In Washington DC on July 9th, 2001, an openly gay man, Alexander Gray, fell victim to two separate hate crimes. The first happened when several men made derogatory remarks about Gray's sexual orientation, and then attacked and beat him with a shovel and a tire iron (Wilchins). Gray, both mentally and physically wounded, was then escorted home because he refused to go to the hospital for treatment of his injuries. The police drove him to his apartment, and friends say Gray was handcuffed in the backseat of the police car when he arrived (Fahrenthold "Gay Activists"). Alexander Gray was a victim of a brutal and traumatizing crime, yet the police treated him as if he were the criminal, by handcuffing him in the back of the car. The D.C. police officers responding to this hate crime were not able to treat the victim with gentleness and sensitivity he severely needed at such a time, but instead they treated him as a threat.

Throughout its history, the Washington, D.C. police department has had troubles dealing with the gay and lesbian community. There has been much bigotry and discrimination in the way some officers handled matters concerning those who are homosexual. During the 1980's many police officers held the stereotype that all people who were homosexual had AIDS, and some occasionally wore rubber gloves when they knew they would be dealing with gay individuals (Fahrenthold "Blue and Gay"). These stereotypes held by officers, along with discrimination created hostility between the gay community and the police. Frank Kameny, who helped found the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance in D.C., and has been an active, involved member for thirty-one years speaks of the Metro Police Department's relationship with the gay community: "They were very much viewed as the enemy incarnate in past times. We attempted to achieve communication with the police department but they were not willing, cooperate, or friendly [...]" (Kameny). Washington D.C. has begun to do something to try and mend this troubled relationship. Their solution was to form a special group of officers to deal with people who most officers felt uncomfortable with. This group is the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit of the Washington D.C. police department, and all of the police officers in the unit are homosexual. This group was formed in the year 2000, when the police department realized they needed to do something about how they were handling many situations involving gays and lesbians. The department reports, "Once used mainly for public relations, the two-officer unit has begun investigating alleged hate crimes and responding to distress calls from gay clubs and businesses" (Fahrenthold "Blue and the Gay"). Many think the unit is a solution for the problem of police officers mistreating homosexuals, because the gay and lesbian officers may be more sensitive to the issues other gays and lesbians are facing. The head of the department, Officer Parsons, stated: "I think I'm able to empathize with a gay man' more than other officers, he said. 'I think I can understand what it feels like to not belong'" (Fahrenthold "Blue and the Gay").

However, on July 9th, it was not the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit, but the regular police who handled Alexander Gray's emergency. Had this special unit responded, they may have been able to relate to Gray and give him the understanding he really needed, yet Gray remained hysterical and upset over the incident. According to Kevin T. Berrill and Gregory M. Herek, the authors of the book, Hate Crimes, victims of such crimes often experience painful consequences, "The world suddenly seems less predictable; people seem more malevolent." (Berrill 208). Gray seemed to experience these effects, and the fact that his attack was a hate crime causes even more issues than a random violent act. Frederick M. Lawrence's essay in The National Black Law Journal discusses the specific consequences of hate crimes, "Bias crimes not only attack the victim physically, but also strike at the very core of his identity. [...] One study of violence in the work-place found that victims of bias-motivated crimes reported a significantly greater level of psychological symptoms than did victims of non-bias motivated violence" (Lawrence). Gray was not only wounded and bleeding, but his perception of himself and of the world was horribly shaken. When people are attacked for money, they know this was a random act of violence, but when someone is specifically targeted because of their sexual preference, they know that they were being punished for being themselves. Gray was struck at the "very core of his identity," probably leaving him not only with feelings of anger, but of bewilderment and self-doubt. The psychological effects of Gray's attack, coupled with the unsympathetic manner in which the police treated him are most likely key factors in Gray's breakdown later that day.

Several hours after his attack, Gray was at his apartment with friends and he began to spit up blood, which caused his friends to call for help, but when the police and ambulance arrived, Gray again refused treatment (Fahrenthold "Gay Activists"). His refusal to go to the hospital was probably associated with the fear and anger many victims feel after a hate crime. Exactly what happened next is under dispute, "According to a friend, Gray was still in pain, upset over his assault, and walking towards his apartment. Even though witnesses testified that Gray's hands were empty and that he was not threatening anyone, D.C. police later testified that was swinging a knife and menacing nearby bystanders and that he refused to drop his weapon when ordered to do so" (Wichins). What people do know for sure is that Officer John Bevilacqua then shot Gray, who died at the hospital less than one hour later (Fahrenthold "Gay Activists"). Alexander Gray's tragic death is currently under scrutiny by the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit, because there is reason to believe his death may have been a result of discrimination on the part of the police officer. A man's life may have been unjustly taken as result of homophobia. Officer Bevilacqua claimed he fired at Gray because of the alleged knife Gray held, but many disagree. A quote from the Washington Post says:

However, several friends said, it was not a knife but Gray's torn khaki pants that drew the attention of Bailey and Bevilacqua. Darrin Thomas, a longtime friend of Gray's, said one of the officers looked at Gray's thong underwear revealed by his torn trousers, and said, "He's male, why's he walking around with female drawers?" One firefighter also had made a disparaging remark about Gray's sexual orientation, Thomas said. (Fahrenthold "Gay Activists")

No one is exactly sure what happened that day, or what Officer Bevilacqua's true motives were. The police report did indicate that Gray seemed intoxicated, and they report that a four inch knife was recovered from the scene (Fahrenthold "Gay Activists"). However, the evidence of the witnesses is conflicting with that of the police officers, and whether Gray was actually brandishing a knife, or threatening any bystanders is still under debate. The possibility does exist that an officer allowed prejudice to influence his actions that day. Alexander Gray may have been killed because of his sexual orientation in a hate crime committed by the very person who was supposed to be protecting him.

The discrimination of gays and lesbians by the police department is not just happening in Washington, D.C., but occurs across the nation. In an essay by Michael Olivero and Rodrigo Murattaya found in the Journal of Criminal Justice Education, they explore the evidence for homophobia in law enforcement, citing several different studies. The essay claims:

Limited research indicates that police officers hold higher levels of homophobia than other sectors of society. For example, Arnott (1994) found that many police officers have misconceptions about gays and lesbians; i.e., police feel that homosexuals are mentally abnormal, insignificant in number, are a cultural group, and are identified as an inherently illegal group. He concluded that, in general, police officers are fearful of gays and lesbians, and are homophobic. (Olivero and Rodrigo)

If many police officers really are afraid of homosexual people and believe them to be unlawful and dangerous people, then there are severe problems with the way officers not only view, but also treat gays and lesbians. The same people who are supposed to be catching hate crime offenders, maybe be harboring their same anti-gay stereotypes and prejudices. Officer Bevilaqua may not have consciously wanted to harm Alexander Gray simply because he was gay, but he may have made the immediate connection between homosexuals and dangerous criminal behavior. This fear could have caused him to make a different decision for handling the situation than he would have made if he hadn't known Gray's sexual orientation. Bevilaqua believed he was doing his duty and "protecting" the innocent bystanders; however, it may have really been Gray who needed protection that day.

Not only are there officers who may be holding stereotypes or prejudices, but there are also many who are outright opposed to homosexual lifestyles and who make it part of their duty to "protect" straight people by going to great lengths to punish gay men. The controversial "Meghan's Law" was created so that a neighborhood would be informed when there was a sex offender living nearby, yet in many states gay men who had been seen having consensual relations were labeled 'sex offenders'. Communities were then warned of their presence and they were treated as if they were child molestors. The cops extended their duty to "protect" the people to greater lengths, by manipulating the law. An article from the Georgetown article explains, "When the nation's first sex offender registration law was enacted in California more than fifty years ago, it was created in large part as a tool to harass gay men" (Jacobson). Many officers abused the law in order to incriminate gay men, and these types of discrimination are the reasons why there are very tense relations between the gay and lesbian community and the police.

The Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit is an attempt for the D.C. police department to try and overcome discrimination of homosexuals; however, the unit was not present either times the police interacted with Alexander Gray on the day of his death. When an emergency call comes in from a gay club or business, instead of airing on the police radio, it is called directly into one of the Liaison Units beepers. They then go to the scene and respond to the problem; however, the police may not have been immediately aware that the attack on Gray was motivated by hate because of his sexual preference. It is often difficult for the police to tell immediately if a crime is a hate crime or not. If the officers of the Gay and Lesbian Unit had been able to immediately respond to Gray's situation, they may have been able to calm him down, sympathize with him, and prevent his later breakdown. Or, if the Gay and Lesbian Unit officers had been at the scene later that day, they might not have acted with the fear and discrimination which could have possibly been motivating Officer Bevilaqua to fire at Gray.

In the case of Gray, fear and intimidation were spread to others with similar sexual orientation, causing this incident to indirectly harm many others, "Criminal activity based on prejudice terrorizes not only victims, but the entire community of which they are a part [...] hate crimes affect more than just the individual attacked...Hate crimes rend the fabric of society and fragment communities" (Kim).

The Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit is an interesting concept. Members of a certain minority are designated to handle all situations concerning their own minority. This is both for the benefit of the other police officers who may not want to deal with people who are homosexual, and of the gay and lesbian community who deserve to be treated justly and equally. Research shows that many police officers tend to harbor prejudices about homosexuals, so the Unit seems like a good way to solve the problem. Frank Kamney, along with most of the gay and lesbian community of D.C., sees the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit as an asset, "It gives us a crucially important aura of legitimacy in a way which was not there before. Now we are structured right into things and part of the main stream" (Kameny). Without the Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit acting as a bridge to connect the police department to the community, more discrimination and insensitivity could occur, causing a further rift between the two. Not only do 'hate crimes' deeply affect the victim, but prejudice alone can cause the separation of an entire community. Incidents such as Alexander Gray's death, harm the city of Washington D.C. By isolating the gay and lesbian community and creating opposing groups who are fearful of one another. The Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit is one small step towards becoming a city where all people are "protected" equally by the law, but much more needs to be done to prevent us from furthering the division between the gay and lesbian community and the rest of society.

In Reid Luhman and Stuart Gilman's book, Race and Ethnic Relations: The Social and Political Experience of Minority Groups, they study the social impact of discrimination: "just as prejudice and stereotypes can become part of a group's culture, thereby keeping that group apart from others, so discrimination can maintain group separation and lead to further conflict. [...] in addition, discrimination rubs salt into the wonld. The we-they orientation that is begun by prejudice is nourished by the continued experience of discrimination" (Luhman and Gilman 67). This we-they mentality can be very dangerous and make certain situations difficult for the police and the gay and lesbian individuals dealing with them. When the police investigation for Alexander Gray's murder began, family and friends were very angry with the police, but after discovering that one of the officers, Officer Parsons, is gay, the family became accepting and more cooperative (Fahrenthold "Blue and the Gay"). The sensitivity of Parsons and the other officer to gay issues obviously aids the police department in many ways.

The Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit acts a bridge, connected the two groups, but could it really be making the rift between them wider and permanent. In a society where we are striving for equality, should we really have a special liaison group to ensure that everyone is treated justly by the law? Designating a group of officers of one minority to handle cases concerning citizens of their same minority seems like a form of segregation. In the past, and also even the present there have been many problems with the police department and their severely harsh treatment of African-Americans, yet an "African-American Liaison Unit" in which the officers of this unit specialized in cases involving African-Americans, would seem strange and possibly a way of segregation. The existence of this Unit implies that we are accepting the fact that some police officers do not want to handle emergencies involving homosexuals, or that they would not be able to handle these emergencies justly.