POLICE ABUSE AND MISCONDUCT AGAINST LESBIAN, GAY,
BISEXUAL AND TRANSGENDER PEOPLE IN THE U.S.

Key Recommendations of the Report


As a first step in addressing the human rights concerns raised in the report, AI is calling on police departments across the country to sign a pledge affirming their commitment to combat discrimination and violence against LGBT people. In addition Amnesty International is calling on police departments to follow the following recommendations:

Amnesty International is calling on police departments around the country to:
  • Send a clear message to law enforcement personnel that police abuse—including torture or ill-treatment—of LGBT people will not be tolerated and ensure that all allegations and reports of police abuse and misconduct are thoroughly and impartially investigated.

  • Ensure the safety of LGBT individuals while in detention. This should include providing safe housing (detention facilities) appropriate to transgender individuals. The individual’s assessment should be central, if not necessarily determinative, as to where they should be housed. Administrative segregation in police custody should avoid further marginalizing LGBT people, or placing them at further risk of torture or ill-treatment.

  • Enforce clear guidelines requiring law enforcement officials to report abuses. This should include bringing to justice those who cover up or fail to report abuses.

  • Integrate human rights standards, including those on law enforcement, and LGBT-sensitivity training in police training curriculums. Training must be provided to all ranks and given at periodic intervals. Curriculums should be developed in collaboration with the LGBT community. The impact of training should be evaluated regularly.

  • Establish strict protocols and supervision for conducting undercover operations. Such protocols should preclude entrapment.

  • Establish effective, straightforward and accessible complaint procedures. This should include ensuring that complaint procedures are displayed prominently at all police stations, providing language accessible materials relevant to the communities, accepting anonymous complaints, and protecting from intimidation those who file complaints against officials.

  • Work proactively with LGBT communities. This includes maintaining an effective consultative relationship with relevant LGBT activists and organizations, reaching out to marginalized communities, and recruiting a diverse force to include LGBT officers.

Amnesty International is calling on federal authorities to:
  • Collect data about the incidence of police abuse and misconduct at the local, state, and federal levels, and monitor patterns of misconduct for the purpose of directing federal resources toward redressing these.

  • Establish a national database of officers dismissed for misconduct so that they cannot transfer from one jurisdiction to another.

  • Provide resources and technical assistance to state and local law enforcement agencies to improve their complaint procedures, internal discipline and training programs.


Amnesty International is also calling on city and state officials in Chicago, IL, Los Angeles, CA, New York City, NY and San Antonio, TX to:
  • Establish effective, independent oversight bodies with powers to investigate, review complaints against police, and to issue detailed public reports.

  • Make public the outcome of all administrative and disciplinary investigations promptly.

  • Establish effective monitoring and tracking systems of complaints, including early warning systems to identify officers and patterns of abuse, including racial bias, or bias based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.

  • Undertake collection of comprehensive data on “hate crimes” based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression, and regularly publish detailed and comprehensive statistics.

  • Review and amend all morals regulations, such as “lewd conduct” statutes to ensure that they are not discriminatorily enforced. This should include making explicit and specific which conduct is prohibited, and requiring the strict monitoring and oversight of enforcement practices.

  • Take affirmative steps to ensure the equal enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights by LGBT people. This includes asking authorities, where relevant, to pass legislation prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, and for those cities and states that have passed such legislation, to implement them. In addition, AI is asking government officials to support initiatives addressing the obstacles faced by LGBT people, particularly young LGBT and transgender people, in realizing their rights to adequate housing and access to appropriate health services.