In an effort to communicate with Gainesville’s LGBTQ+ and minority communities, Gainesville Police officers held an open discussion at the Pride Community Center this week.
GPD’s new contacts for the LGBTQ+ community — Lt. Jaime Kurnick, the wife of University Police Chief Linda Stump-Kurnick; Officer Michael Cavett, who is also openly gay; and Officer Donna Montague — greeted the crowd of nearly 20 residents Monday.
“I know a lot of officers in a lot of other communities do not have that same kind of feeling and are in the closet,” she said.
Kurnick said GPD wants officers to help at peaceful protests and keep attendees safe.
Capt. Jorge Campos said anyone with a concealed carry permit who wishes to bring their gun to a protest should let officers know beforehand.
Chief Tony Jones said GPD hopes to give all officers Mental Health First Aid training or Crisis Intervention Team training in the future.
He said GPD has no tolerance for hate crimes, and he encouraged the community to call 352-955-1818 if residents don’t need immediate help.
He said self-evaluations, in which GPD looks for patterns in its arrest numbers, help GPD find potential problems, as does a group of residents who help review GPD and its hiring practices.
Terry Fleming and Linda Bassham, the co-presidents of the Pride Community Center, said the Orlando shooting inspired them to hold the discussion.
Fleming asked Capt. Campos what officers do when they pull over a transgender person whose driver’s license does not match their gender identity.
Campos said in the past, he pulled over India Brooks, a Santa Fe College graduate, performer, former Miss Gay Orlando recipient and transgender person who worked at University Club in the ’90s, according to Alligator archives.
Though he was initially confused by her license, Campos said it didn’t change how he treated Brooks.
“That was probably one of my first experiences with a transgendered person, but I can tell you that in police academy there’s no lesson on how to deal with that,” he said.
Campos said he believes police departments could use more training on how to deal with similar situations.
“The closer we are to the community, the better off we’ll all be,” Lt. Kurnick said.
