Stonewalled: Police Abuse and Misconduct Against Lesbian, Gay and Transgender People in the U.S.

A gay Filipino man was reportedly beaten on several occasions by his partner, a white U.S. citizen, who was reportedly addicted to drugs and alcohol. When police responded to one altercation, they reportedly arrested the Filipino man and threatened to report him to immigration authorities, saying: "You're not a citizen. We should deport you, you shouldn't be hitting Americans; you're not an American." The Filipino man was sentenced to 52 weeks of batterer's intervention in court.

- AI interview with Matthew Pulling, STOP, Domestic Violence Program,
Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center

Police Response to Crimes Against LGBT Individuals: Fear of Reporting; Police Failure to Respond and Inappropriate Police Response

AI is concerned that U.S. authorities are failing to act with due diligence to prevent and investigate crimes against LGBT people. Reports to AI indicate a pattern of police failing to respond or responding inappropriately to "hate crimes," domestic violence and other crimes against LGBT individuals, particularly crimes against LGBT individuals of color, immigrants and other marginalized individuals.

Fear of Reporting Crimes

Reports to AI indicate that LGBT people often do not report crimes against them, in particular hate crimes and domestic violence, because they are reluctant to reveal their sexual orientation or gender identity to responding officers, and because they fear homophobic or transphobic treatment at the hands of police officers. Reportedly, reluctance to contact the police is particularly pronounced among transgender women.

Hate Crimes

Law Enforcement Training and Policies: Out of the 29 police departments responding to AI's survey, 21 (72 percent) report that they do track statistics of hate crimes based on an individual's sexual orientation. However, police departments in Atlanta, Georgia; Honolulu, Hawaii; Jackson, Mississippi; Kansas City, Missouri; Manchester, New Hampshire; and San Antonio, Texas reported that they do not track statistics of hate crimes based on sexual orientation.

59% of police departments report that they track statistics of hate crimes based on an individual's gender identity. 34 % of police departments report that they do not track statistics of hate crimes based on an individual's gender identity.

For the four cities studied, AI found disparities between the hate crimes reported by authorities and hate crimes documented by advocacy organizations.

Although some states and local authorities in the U.S. have taken legislative steps to address crimes motivated by discrimination, many state hate crime laws do not cover gender identity or sexual orientation. 33 states including the District of Columbia have enacted state hate crime statutes that include sexual orientation, while only 10 states include gender identity/expression.

24% of police departments report having a policy or practice governing investigation of sexual assault of LGBT individuals. 86% of police departments provide training regarding sexual assault, but 52% do not touch on LGBT-specific issues in this regard.

Out of the 29 police departments responding to AI's survey, eight (28 percent) report that they do not train officers on issues relating to hate crimes against LGBT individuals.

Police Response to Hate Crimes

In some cases, police officers reportedly have refused to take a complaint of a potential hate crime. Officers reportedly have trivialized incidents or stonewalled attempts to file complaints.
AI has heard several reports indicating that law enforcement officers frequently fail to properly identify hate crimes.
AI also heard reports of officers directly or indirectly suggesting that survivors are in some way responsible for crimes committed against them; for example, indicating that the person "asked for it" or "provoked" an attack.
AI has received reports of police being verbally or physically abusive when individuals have come forward to report a hate crime, inappropriately focusing on a survivor's sexual orientation or gender identity. Police responses to hate crimes are reportedly frequently abusive in cases involving transgender individuals.

Domestic Violence

Law Enforcement Training and Policies: Only 17% of police departments report having specific policies on same-sex domestic violence. 83% of police departments report providing training on issues around same-sex domestic violence. 14% of police departments report that they do not train on issues around same-sex domestic violence.

Police Response to LGBT Domestic Violence

AI's research revealed that law enforcement responses to domestic and interpersonal violence involving LGBT individuals is inadequate and that police authorities are failing to act with due diligence to prevent and protect LGBT individuals from domestic violence, in contravention of international standards.
AI's findings suggest that police often fail to respond to domestic violence, including within the LGBT community. In some cases officers may fail to recognize that the incident has occurred in the context of an intimate relationship. Advocates told AI that police often do not take LGBT domestic violence seriously.
According to advocates the police have greater difficulty in identifying the abuser when responding to LGBT domestic violence calls.
When police do attempt to identify the abuser in an LGBT domestic violence situation, reports to AI suggest that transgender and gender-variant survivors, immigrant survivors, survivors of color, the person perceived to be of lower socio-economic status or the biggest and youngest person are reportedly often assumed to be the abusers and are arrested.
AI also heard a number of reports of police officers arresting or threatening to arrest both parties when responding to LGBT domestic violence in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Antonio and Washington, D.C.
AI also heard reports of officers making homophobic or transphobic comments when responding to LGBT domestic violence situations.