Lakewood Police officer harasses transgender woman

[Iris Nejedlik]

http://www.cleveland.com/lakewood/index ... _afte.html

I think it's disgusting that things like this are happening in this city. It's definitely a step in the right direction that he was actually investigated for this, and was made to undergo training for it, but all in all it's just a slap on the wrist. I have a feeling that 10 years ago, this would have been pretty commonplace, but as LGBT rights and visibility have soared in recent years, bigots like Thomas McLaughlin can't hide anymore.

It's also noteworthy to add that the woman stated she was generally treated respectfully by the other officers involved. This guy seems like the aging meathead type who's been fading out of relevance for a decade now.

http://www.vanyaland.com/2015/01/23/ohi ... ed-arrest/

[Michael Deneen]

A disappointing story.
This sort of behavior is always unacceptable....and is especially moronic in light of increased police scrutiny in recent months.

On the bright side, I've heard that the LPD is getting body cameras, and they have recently added high tech cameras to vehicles.

http://www.19actionnews.com/story/27925 ... olice-cams

I think the cameras will help protect both officers and citizens going forward.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Iris

You have to excuse me, Cleveland.com is currently the leader in unvetted stories and BS as
witnessed by their coverage of the Lakewood Hosptial "Crisis."

Lakewood Police for years have worked had with the LGBT Community in tracking down those
that threaten and harm them. We had two police officers on their task for for years.

If that has changed, and it certainly could, we need to make it right. ALL CITIZENS need to
feel safe where they live, work and play. Of course it is hard when City Hall works to lie, and cover things up.

I hope this gets sorted out as well.

.

[Iris Nejedlik]

I emailed the police department about my concerns, and this is the response I received. Overall, I think it’s a pretty sincere and levelheaded response. Of course, actions will speak louder than words. As a part of the LGBT community, I’ve never had a bad experience with the police in the seven years I’ve lived here, which is why I was so surprised to read about this incident. It’s important to stay vigilant and make sure that we can count on professionalism and respectfulness from the city in the future.



“Hello,
The basic facts as reported did occur, regrettably. The woman made a complaint to one of our supervisors who immediately initiated an internal affairs investigation. The officer admitted to what he had done. The officer was disciplined and the professionalism expected of all my officers was reviewed with him. All people we come into contact are to be treated with respect and dignity, when an employee acts unprofessionally they are disciplined. This officer did not have any other disciplinary violations of this nature. We do not expect this behavior to be repeated by this or any other officer on the department.

People must be made to feel comfortable in dealing with their police. An inappropriate action like this makes us take a step back from all the hard work we all do to have positive appropriate contacts with our community. As a department we have had recent training in Human Diversity, and Interpersonal Communications. This situation reminds us that we need to continually train for a variety of subjects and put that training to valid use. This behavior is not indicative of the Lakewood Police Department or its officers.

I hope I have answered your questions. If you have any more please email me back or call me.
Thank You

Chief Tim Malley”

[Stan Austin]

This is a very simple, straight forward explanation. The Chief acknowledges a problem, explains the immediate measures (which middle management carried out) to deal with the situation. And, he also pointed out the ongoing efforts to continuously keep the department up to date.
I'd be kind of snarky if I said other police chiefs ought to follow this model!
Stan Austin

[Peter Grossetti]

Look up the word "professional" in the dictionary and you'll find a picture of Tim Malley accompanying the definition.

Lakewood is very well served by Chief Malley! VERY!

[Michael Deneen]

This was an ugly incident, but the Chief and Department are responding properly.

Which is a lot more than I can say for the situation in Cleveland, where leadership is digging in to fight change. The CPD chief's interview on last night's "60 Minutes" was sadly reminiscent of Madeline Cain's "eminent domain" appearance.