Chicago Police Department adopts transgender general order
Tue. September 4, 2012 1:21 PM by GoPride.com News Staff
Chicago, IL -
The Chicago Police Department (CPD) has adopted a general order for the treatment of transgender individuals while in CPD custody, reports the Windy City Times.
A coalition of community groups led by the Lakeview Action Coalition has been working since June 2010 to reach agreement with CPD officials on the new police order.
The order mandates that police not search transgender people in an attempt to determine their gender, that officers respect preferred names and pronouns for transgender detainees and that they not use someone's gender identity as assumed cause for a crime. It further bans derogatory language against trans people.
"This is a great first step," said Rick Garcia, policy advisor for The Civil Rights Agenda (TCRA). "But it is just the first step. There is now a lot of training that has to be done, and we want to ensure that implementation is carried out so that every officers is aware of these new policies. We have seen from other cities that have adopted these policies, like Washington D.C., that implementation and training are key to a successful outcome."
TCRA was among the more than 30 community groups pushing for the new order.
According to the CPD website, the policy went into effect Aug. 22.
Read more: Chicago Police Department adopts transgender policy (Windy City Times)
A coalition of community groups led by the Lakeview Action Coalition has been working since June 2010 to reach agreement with CPD officials on the new police order.
The order mandates that police not search transgender people in an attempt to determine their gender, that officers respect preferred names and pronouns for transgender detainees and that they not use someone's gender identity as assumed cause for a crime. It further bans derogatory language against trans people.
"This is a great first step," said Rick Garcia, policy advisor for The Civil Rights Agenda (TCRA). "But it is just the first step. There is now a lot of training that has to be done, and we want to ensure that implementation is carried out so that every officers is aware of these new policies. We have seen from other cities that have adopted these policies, like Washington D.C., that implementation and training are key to a successful outcome."
TCRA was among the more than 30 community groups pushing for the new order.
According to the CPD website, the policy went into effect Aug. 22.
Read more: Chicago Police Department adopts transgender policy (Windy City Times)