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LGBTQ-Affirming Policing: Tactics Generated by Law Enforcement Personnel

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Abstract

Law enforcement personnel (LEP) use a variety of tactics to perform their job duties. Although LEP often receive specialized training to work with ethnocultural minorities and are sometimes trained to work with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) citizens, a clear articulation of LGBTQ-affirming police tactics has not yet been established. Using qualitative content analysis and a multiple case study approach, this project identified a variety of tactics generated by LEP in written surveys and group discussion of scenarios involving LGBTQ citizens. Results showed that across all scenarios, LEP were able to generate LGBTQ-affirming tactics, including both typical police procedures, as well as approaches specific to LGBTQ citizens. Non LGBTQ-affirming tactics typically reflected reluctance to adapt general procedures to meet the needs of LGBTQ citizens. The results of this study support the use of group-based scenario training to help LEP identify and adopt LGBTQ-affirming approaches. This study is significant because it represents a first step toward identifying best practices for LGBTQ-affirming police tactics.

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Notes

  1. The authors primarily use “LGBTQ” to refer to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities and individuals, however, “LGBT” and “LGB” may be used to reflect the content of the cited source.

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Acknowledgments

The authors express appreciation to their collaborator, Ethan Ragsdale of the Santa Barbara Police Department.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Counseling, Clinical & School Psychology, Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106-9490, USA

    Tania Israel, Audrey Harkness, Todd R. Avellar, Kevin Delucio, Jay N. Bettergarcia & Joshua A. Goodman

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  1. Tania Israel
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  2. Audrey Harkness
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  3. Todd R. Avellar
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  4. Kevin Delucio
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  5. Jay N. Bettergarcia
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  6. Joshua A. Goodman
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Correspondence to Tania Israel.

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Israel, T., Harkness, A., Avellar, T.R. et al. LGBTQ-Affirming Policing: Tactics Generated by Law Enforcement Personnel. J Police Crim Psych 31, 173–181 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-015-9169-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-015-9169-2

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