The Midwest AIDS Prevention Project has developed gay and lesbian sensitivity training for officers and support staff at police departments across the state.
The project, based in Ferndale, promotes education about AIDS and organizes support groups targeting the gay and lesbian community.
Its training program, which began in Ferndale two years ago, was recently approved by the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and is now available to all police departments in Michigan.
The training focuses on issues such as spouse abuse, hate crimes and acceptance.
Craig Covey, chief executive officer of the Midwest AIDS Prevention Project, said the program was designed to dispel generalizations and create an open relationship between the gay community and police departments.
“One of the most important aspects of this is to break down stereotypes and fear and begin to build bridges between the police and the gay community,” he said. “Historically, the two were antagonistic. Gays were afraid of the police for not being treated fairly, and the police felt it was a community they didn’t know or understand.”
Covey said the training in Ferndale was successful in opening the lines of communication between the two groups.
“We have seen the hate crimes decline in Ferndale over this period of time, and there has been less reluctance for gays to call the police if there is a problem,” he said.
Candice Moench, deputy director of the Midwest AIDS Prevention Project, said it’s crucial the audience is interested in the subject matter of the training.
“There is a lot of dialogue and information that needs to be exchanged between the two groups,” she said. “It’s very needed, but you have to have the police department and administration believe in it.
“The importance of it has to be stressed, and that’s when it works. When everyone goes into it with that same thinking, you have a very successful workshop.”
Capt. Juli Liebler, of the East Lansing Police Department, said officers experience training with a guest panel to discuss sensitive issues at the beginning of each year.
“As police officers, we deal with all kinds of people, particularly in the East Lansing community,” she said. “It’s important that our officers understand that everybody is different and has different needs and expectations. It’s important that we train our officers to be sensitive to those types of things.”
And Liebler said the training program is something her department would consider.
“We would be interested in taking a look at it,” she said. “We would certainly be interested in it.”
