Good morning,
I did want to provide an update on what I have done so far:
* Soon after the e-mails on this incident surfaced, I began checking for police reports so that the incident could be investigated and the suspects identified. Myself and the Zone Five Commander checked for the report without success.
* I reviewed 911 calls for Friday night from 4:00 pm through Saturday at 03:00 am to see if a 911 call was made in the area of the incident. I could not locate the call and thought that the victim may have called from another location to make the report.
* As far as requests for additional patrols, I did send the information to the Zone 5 Commander.
* As I did not know who the victim was, I asked that if anyone knew him to please forward my name and telephone number to him so we can discuss the incident. I thank those of you who reached out to the victim because he did call. Unfortunately, we have left messages on each others phones but the victim did indicate that he will make a police report at one of the stations.
* I was monitoring our electronic reports through Thursday to pull the report as I wanted to make sure it was investigated by the proper police unit (either Zone Five or Major Crimes). As of Thursday, I was unable to find a report written on the incident.
* I will be unavailable for the next week, but will check my e-mail. I plan to follow up with the victim upon my return to make sure the report was made, that it is investigated, and check with Zone 5 about patrols in the area.
If you have any immediate concerns or to discuss the issue at the next Zone 5 Public Safety Council meeting, I would suggest calling Zone 5 at 412-665-3605 to speak with a supervisor and/or the community relations officer.
If I can be of further assistance, please let me know.
Thomas Stangrecki, Commander
Commander Thomas Stangrecki
Pittsburgh Bureau of Police
Major Crimes
(412) 323-7800
-----Original Message-----
From: neighborhood-bounces(a)highlandparkpa.com <neighborhood-bounces(a)highlandparkpa.com>
To: Silvestre, Anthony J <tonys(a)pitt.edu>; neighborhood(a)highlandparkpa.com <neighborhood(a)highlandparkpa.com>
Sent: Thu Jul 22 10:20:35 2010
Subject: RE: [Highland Park] Gay bashing incident on Friday night
Hello Everyone,
I realize I am no longer the Commander of Zone 5, however; I am attempting to track down if a report or a 911 call was made. Please understand that without a report, or access to the Highland Park list serve, the officers and the newly assigned Commander will not have working knowledge of the incident. As for diversity and compassion for any person who is assaulted, the department has training and enforces it regularly. I have personally trained the officers in these issues and have volunteered at PERSAD and headed the security team for “Celebrate Life, Celebrate Art" for the past 14 years. I know it is easy to feel isolated and afraid if there is a perceived lack of response, but we are here to help. I know Cmdr. Stangrecki (Major Crimes) and Cmdr. Barone (CRRU) regularly monitors the list serve and are willing to help. As always…stay safe!
Cmdr
RaShall M. Brackney, Commander
City of Pittsburgh, Bureau of Police
Zone 1 Station
1501 Brighton Road
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15212
Office: (412) 323-7200
Fax: (412) 323-7249
Email: rashall.brackney(a)city.pittsburgh.pa.us
________________________________
From: neighborhood-bounces(a)highlandparkpa.com [mailto:neighborhood-bounces@highlandparkpa.com] On Behalf Of Silvestre, Anthony J
Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2010 7:57 AM
To: neighborhood(a)highlandparkpa.com
Subject: RE: [Highland Park] Gay bashing incident on Friday night
Neighbors,
I have lived in Highland Park/East Liberty since 1987. I bought here because I deeply appreciated the diversity in this area. It seemed to me that people of different races, ethnic groups, professions, and ages lived together in relative harmony. And so I am deeply disturbed that young men in the neighborhood feel free enough to attack someone because of their perceptions of his gender conformity and sexual orientation. How did these teens get this message? What kind of messages do/did they get at Peabody our neighborhood schools and churches about respecting all people? If our neighborhood leaders are not speaking out, what message are we giving our young people?
The report of lack of police presence after the incident is also disturbing. Does it reflect disinterest in hate crimes? What kind of training do our local police have in diversity? How culturally competent are they?
I often see candidates for Mayor, City Council, and County officials at neighborhood events, at gay bars, and at local churches. Next time I do, I intend to ask them what they are doing to increase competency among our police and other public safety personnel.
Sincerely,
Tony Silvestre
Professor
Infectious Diseases and Microbiology
Graduate School of Public Health
University of Pittsburgh
Suite 400
3520 Fifth Avenue
PIttsburgh, PA 15213
________________________________
From: neighborhood-bounces(a)highlandparkpa.com [mailto:neighborhood-bounces@highlandparkpa.com] On Behalf Of Ali Haimson
Sent: Monday, July 19, 2010 9:57 AM
To: neighborhood(a)highlandparkpa.com
Subject: [Highland Park] Gay bashing incident on Friday night
Hi all,
Here's some more info about the gay bashing incident on Friday night (this was written by the man who was attacked):
"While waiting at the Mellon and Stanton bus stop around 10:30 on Friday night three young men passed him without incident. When the bus didn't arrive he decided to try another stop at Penn and Negley. To get to the stop he walked on the opposite side of the street to where he saw the three men learning against a fence opposite the Union Project. When he turned the corner to walk down Negley, with his back facing the men, he was attacked from behind by one of the men with punches to the face and back. He managed to fight back enough to release himself and run into traffic with hands up screaming "help." The attacker laughed and the many people around, plus traffic he ran into, did not respond. "
My friend who was attacked is very visible as a gay person. Based on his appearance and his walk, he is often harrassed and threatened in our neighborhood (and of course in other neighborhoods as well). On Friday night, there were many people at the corner of Negley and Stanton, yet these men chose the one visibly gay person to attack. Additionally, they did not take or attempt to take money or anything else from him. My friend feels very strongly that the attack was motivated by ignorance and hate toward gay people.
I'd like to attach here Betty Hill's message in response to another recent gay bashing. We are extremely grateful to Betty for writing this eloquent piece. It's very relevant to Friday's incident. I'd also like to mention that the police were called on Friday night, but were unresponsive and did not show up until about two hours later.
Ali Haimson
*It’s Simple and Complicated to End Hate - A Message from Betty Hill*
This week I learned of another hate crime in the neighborhood- a group of
drag performers were walking between one club and the next, and were taunted
and verbally abused and then physically hit, pushed and kicked by a group of
men coming out of another club. This is the second incident of physical
abuse I’ve heard about in Bloomfield in the past six months. I wonder if
there are more. At Persad, we hear from our consumers from all over Western
Pennsylvania on a regular basis that they have been the victims of
discrimination, intimidation and violence.
Interestingly, there were only six GLBT-related hate crimes reported in
Pennsylvania last year. This lack of reporting makes it look like we don’t
have a hate crime or discrimination problems in our state, but those of us
that know the community know that isn’t true.
So, why do these incidents go unnoticed and unreported?
1. *We blame the victim*. This dynamic is common to all victim related
crimes. We are so afraid of the vulnerability of random acts of violence
and they make us feel so unsafe that we believe the incident could have
controlled or prevented. “Maybe if the drag performers were not out late
on the street? Did they have to be so obvious with their costumes and cross
dressing – weren’t they asking for it? Were they drinking?” We have to
stop this! There is no reason that GLBT people shouldn’t be able to go
out at night, have fun, and walk the streets in whatever attire they choose
without getting beat up. As long as we blame the victim and fantasize
that we can control the violence that happens, we fail to put the blame
where it belongs - on the person who is violent.
2. *We are not safe to be “out”.* In order to report a hate crime, you
have to acknowledge that you are being targeted as a GLBT person (or
perceived to be)….so you have to say that you belong to the group. If
you don’t feel safe to be out and you don’t want others to know that you are
GLBT, you will want to avoid talking about the incident at all. Until we
make members of our community safe and protected to be who they are, we
can’t expect people to report who they are at the time they are feeling the
most vulnerable.
3. *We don’t trust the police and the justice system*. I’ve heard so
many victims say that they have had bad experiences with the police and
response systems that they don’t call them when they need them. Sometimes
because of ignorance, sometimes because of attitudes, the system blames the
victim or fails to understand the situation and further victimizes the
victim by arresting them, further abusing them, or just failing to respond.
Our community has some terrific police and some police with bad
attitudes. But we can’t ignore the system that is supposed to protect
us. We must report situations and demand response. And every time we
get an inadequate or discriminating or abusive response, we have to call the
system on it and work to change it so that it works for us! Every time!
4. *The police often do not ask and do not encourage hate crime reporting*. I’m not sure what the problem is here. It does not seem to be on their radar screen. In the social context of homophobia and transphobia, I think that some officers don’t think about it. Some may not be trained. Some may have bad attitudes. We need to demand that the local government response personnel – police, fire, rescue, etc. -- have training on GLBT diversity and are sensitive to hate crimes and prepared to protect victims.
It’s simple and complicated to change the culture and the system. Persad’s
Community Safe Zone project is working to eliminate hate crimes in our
communities. If you are a victim of a hate crime, there are resources to
help you. We want everyone to be safe to walk the streets of any
neighborhood. If you work in one of the response systems – police, rescue,
fire, justice system, etc, and your group needs training, Persad is happy to
provide it. If you want to get involved in changing your neighborhood, we
would like to hear from you.
Betty Hill
bhill(a)persadcenter.org <mailto:bhill@persadcenter.org>
412-441-9786 x212