On June 24, Police Commissioner
Dermot Shea and
leadership from the Gay Officers
Action League (GOAL)
highlighted progress that
the NYPD has made for LGBTQIA+
members of service
and New Yorkers citywide.
The Department is also announcing
several new efforts
including new policy, personnel
and leadership.
The Department is committed
to maintaining trust with
the community, and fostering
a safe and welcoming work environment
for employees who
identify as LGBTQIA+. The
Department does not tolerate
insensitivity and other negative
behavior towards the LGBTQIA+
community. Furthermore,
this type of behavior is
harmful to our colleagues and
has far reaching effects on the
communities we serve.
The NYPD’s Office of Equity
and Inclusion (OEI) in
collaboration with GOAL and
the NYPD LGBTQIA+ liaison,
design and implement diversity
and equity strategies and
frameworks to promote the social
inclusion of LGBTQIA+
people. In addition to ensuring
compliance with employment
and anti-discrimination
laws, the OEI actively seeks to
identify and resolve workplace
issues and create a positive
work environment through
support, awareness, training
and policy initiatives.
In 2020, a working group
led by OEI was formed with
representatives from a number
of bureaus throughout
the Department to focus on issues
related to LGBTQIA+ employees.
These meetings occur
monthly, and include OEI,
GOAL, LGBTQIA+ Liaison
and other relevant stakeholders.
There are also quarterly
meetings with the police commissioner,
GOAL, OEI and
Employee Relations.
As a result of this working
group, the NYPD has:
– New policy: Launching
a new, voluntary opportunity
to self-report data for
employees to provide information
on sexual orientation
as well as an opportunity to
update information on gender
identity
– Increased staff: Added
seven uniformed members of
service within the Community
Affairs LGBTQIA+ Outreach
Unit
– New LGBTQIA+ leadership:
With the retirement of
NYPD LGBTQIA+ Liaison Detective
Carl Locke, Sgt. Ana
Arboleda has been appointed
as the next LGBTQIA+ Liaison
within the office of the
Chief of Department
– New personnel employees:
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Designated personnel
in Employee Assistance Unit
who can specifically work
with LGBTQIA+ employees
– Enhanced investigative
representation on the Hate
Crime Task Force: Ensured
LGBTQIA+ representation in
the Hate Crime Task Force
– Expanded training:
In addition to the GOAL training
for every recruit entering
the Department, as well as
ongoing mandatory modules
for all NYPD employees, the
Department has developed an
inclusive language guide that
includes LGBTQIA+ information
(e.g., pronouns and terms
that reflect/respect gender diversity
and support gender diversity).
In addition, over the past
few years, the NYPD has:
– Published P.G. 205-
68 in 2018, “Member of the
Service Seeking to Notify the
Department of Transgender
or Gender Non-Conforming
Transition, or Status.”
– Revised policy to include
discourtesy related to a
person’s gender and name in
P.G. 203-10, “Public Contact –
Preferred Conduct.”
– Required a person’s
(complainant, victim, arrestee)
chosen name be captured
on department forms
and persons treated according
to their gender (during a
search, while being lodged,
etc.)
– A 2019 apology by
Police Commissioner O’Neill
about the Police Department’s
role in the 1969 Stonewall raid
– In 2019, the Office of
Equity an Inclusion partnered
with GOAL on the first LGBTQIA+
Employee Survey
– Continued to provide
a GOAL LGBTQIA+ Sensitivity
and Awareness Workshop
that is CALEA accredited and
has been provided for many
years, for recruits, promotional
classes, School Safety,
Traffic Enforcement, outside
agencies, and others throughout
the Department. Members
of the community and advocacy
groups are regularly invited
to oversee these training
workshops and provide input
for enhancements. The NYPD
has also assisted other police
departments, like the New
York and New Jersey State Police,
to develop similar training
programs for their employees
– Published the Gender
Identity and Expression booklet,
a Gender-Inclusive Pronoun
guide, and a LGBTQIA+
Diversity and Inclusion terminology
document
– Consistently provided
all mandatory training
required by legislation or executive
order. OEI expanded
training on Executive Order
16 (access to single sex facilities)
and added a LGBTQIA+
component to EEO training
curriculum for new hires and
promotional classes
– Established the Lavender
Alliance, an LGBTQIA+
specific enhancement to the
pre-existing NYPD Shield
program in our Counterterrorism
Bureau, a partnership
with private sector security
leaders to share information,
training, best practices, and
lessons learned with the overall
goal of enhancing safety
in New York City. The Lavender
Alliance allows organizations
to identify themselves
as members of the LGBTQIA+
community and receive various
trainings within SHIELD
as a group.
– Ongoing partnership
with the LGBTQIA+ Advisory
Panel. This advisory group
provided LGBTQIA+ community
related recommendations
to the NYPD Department
Manual in 2012 that were subsequently
adopted. This Advisory
Panel continues to work
with the NYPD and provide
recommendations, including
recent recommendations related
to the documentation of
preferred name and gender.
We want to thank them for
their ongoing partnership and
dedication.