In what can only be described as a difficult news week, it’s nice to hear a story about real progress being made, especially when it happens in our own backyard. That’s what happened yesterday when the Minneapolis police announced their new policies for dealing with incidents involving transgender individuals.
Speaking at a news conference to announce the policy changes, Minneapolis Police Chief Janeé Harteau said that the new policies were a result of working closely with city leaders, advocacy groups and community organizations to ensure the rights of transgender individuals aren’t infringed during a routine police interaction.
“[We are] learning and growing and understanding the people we serve,” said Harteau. “We have to continue to grow and evolve.”
New Police Policies
The new policies bring a number of changes and additions to the way officers handle situations with transgender persons. Here’s a look at some of the policy changes:
- Any search of a transgender person that goes beyond a frisk or pat down will be conducted by an officer of the gender requested by the suspect.
- Officers are barred from stopping and frisking someone as a way of determining their gender or “to call attention to the person’s gender expression.”
- Transgender suspects under arrest will be transported alone in a squad car to jail.
- The Minneapolis Police Department has designated one officer on its community engagement team to serve as a liaison between police and the trans community.
Teresa Nelson, legal counsel for the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the new policy reflects the city and the department’s vision to address the needs of their community.
“For too long police have treated transgender individuals, without considering their constitutional rights and without considering their transgender status,” said Nelson. “I think this reflects a new reality in which courts are increasingly recognizing that discrimination against transgender people is sex discrimination.”
The policy officially went into effect in June, but has received new recognition in the wake of yesterday’s press conference.
