Savannah police receive an LGBTQ connection training

The Savannah Pride Center works with the city's police authority to train civil servants how they can better identify hate crimes against LGBTQ persons and react to LGBTQ persons after the municipality requires an improved response from the police to such incidents.

After dealing with the controversial police of the death of Chris Allen Vilegas Fentress on March 15, the cooperation takes place, a 27-year-old volunteer for the Savannah Pride Center, who was supposedly murdered by an attacker in a dollar hinge shop in West Bay Street, who reported anti-gay-slur.

The 27 -year -old Johnathan Manson was arrested the following day and charged with murder. According to court records, he did not enter a plea and was not charged for a hate criminal.

The Savannah police authority refused to report Fentress' murder as a hate crime, although Michael Bell, Executive Director of the Savannah Pride Center, described as clear indicators.

“If the shooter has a story of anti-homosexual messages that he published on his social media when the victim is visible, it is time for an investigation that it was thrown part of our community and anti-homosexuals,” said Bell in March.

On Monday, Bell confirmed that the new training program came directly from Fentress' death and subsequent meeting with police leadership, “to have a discussion about what we were doing and what our requests were to better serve our community”.

As part of the partnership, the Savannah Pride Center employee will conduct “safe space training” for new police recruits and offer current officials.

The curriculum will cover LGBTQ terminology, culture, history and the diversity of the queer community of Savannah and go beyond basic sensitivity training in order to also include practical concerns about the police.

“It is also understanding and communication about trends in crimes in which the LGBTQ+ community is involved – the bias of prejudice and what it looks like – because we want to be able to turn the corner when reporting on hate crimes in Savannah,” he said.

The program coincides with the expansion and reinterpretation of the LGBTQ connection program of the Savannah Police Department, Bell said with the new approach, distributing connection responsibility via the districts and divisions instead of relying on a single officially shown.

“There is so much to a program as this,” said Bell and characterized the initiative as “the corner only someone who has this position in its name [to] In fact, in this program, tools have the biggest step towards security for our LGBTQ Plus community, which was ever ever undertaken in the city. “

This comprehensive strategy, he said, will include the commitment of the community, training management, operational support and the victim services, which are specially tailored to distortions.

Savannah's chief of police, Lenny Gunther, confirmed the commitment of the department for the new partnership and said in an explanation that SPD is “devoted to the service of everyone who lives, work and visit Savannah”, and that this “works closely with the LGBTQ+ community to ensure their rights, dignity and security.

Bell admitted that some parishioners could remain skeptical about the law enforcement agencies, especially after dealing with the case of Fentress by the department, but he defended the organization's decision to deal with the police as a pragmatic step to ensure the security of the LGBTQ -Savannahian.

“We have the responsibility to protect our community and best serve them,” said Bell, that precise reporting on hate crimes for the development of suitable programming and securing grants for non -profit services is of essential importance.

The Georgia's Hass crimes law is relatively new after it was issued in 2020 in response to the racist motivated murder of Ahmaud Arbery, whose murderer was condemned for murder of state murder and charges for the federal hate criminal.