XVII Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association Symposium
31 October - 4 November 2001, Galveston, Texas, U.S.A.

Training Law Enforcement Personnel in Transgender Awareness

GREEN, JAMISON U.S.A.
E-mail: jamisong@aol.com

Studies conducted by national anti-violence groups in the United States have found that nearly 40% of anti-transgender violence is perpetrated by police. Since 1995, when ordinances went into effect in San Francisco protecting transgendered and transsexual people from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodation, this author has, in collaboration with San Francisco Police Sergeant Stephan Thorne, conducted regular 2-hour transgender awareness trainings for incoming officers at the San Francisco Police Academy. In 2000, a revision to the California State Penal Code added gender to the list of characteristics against which hate crimes are forbidden, and provided that prosecuting attorneys could seek enhanced penalties against the perpetrators of hate crimes. The definition of gender was also expanded to include transgendered and transsexual people. The new code also included a requirement for all local law enforcement agencies in California to obtain training to recognize such a hate crime. Since then, Sgt. Thorne and I have conducted a 4-hour training for the entire police force, from the Chief to the clerks and dispatchers, at the Berkeley, California Police Department (six 4-hour sessions to accommodate the 326-member department). This paper reports on the resistance encountered in attempting to institute transgender awareness training, an overview of the training content, a review of law enforcement personnel reaction to this training, and an assessment of community reaction to the training and its effect on its target audience.