A police officer stops a car for speeding. The woman at the wheel hands over her license. The card identifies her as male, not female. What should the officer do?

Some officers wouldn’t miss a beat in this situation. But for others, such an encounter might be surprising and uncomfortable. They may be unsure how to address the person. They may be afraid to cause offense. Or, they may have preconceived notions about transgendered individuals that could cause them to be inconsiderate on purpose.

“As police, we’re there to make the situation better, not worse,” said Police Chief Bill Quigley. “The last thing we ever want to do is offend anybody or make anybody uncomfortable.”

That’s why Quigley has trained his department on how to respect transgender individuals they may encounter in the field.

It can be awkward when an officer isn’t sure how to address somebody, but their job is to treat everyone in the community with respect no matter what, said Quigley. The department’s new transgender policy and recent training session have prepared officers to do that.

“The policy wasn’t spurred by any complaints or issues from the LGBT community,” said Quigley. “We’ve had zero complaints. We’re just trying to extend our hand to that community and make sure we all understand each other.”

Officers watched a training video that outlined the difference between “gender” (characteristics that society has deemed “masculine” or “feminine”) and “sex” (biological identity as male or female, which is assigned at birth based on anatomy).

They learned that a person’s gender identity may or may not line up with society’s expectations for people of their birth-assigned sex. Gender identity is held as part of a person’s core identity and often manifests through gender expression – that is, how an individual presents him or herself to others.

In addition, some transgender individuals adopt a new name that better suits their identity. The adopted name may or may not be represented on their ID, depending on whether they’ve had it legally changed. Adopting a name is not an indication that a person is trying to hide their legal identity.

Back at the hypothetical traffic stop, the police officer is holding a license that says this person was assigned the biological identity of “male” from birth. However, it’s pretty clear from her gender expression that she doesn’t identify with her assigned sex. So how should the officer move forward?

Simple: he should ask.

A simple question such as, “Would you like me to refer to you as ‘Sir’ or ‘Ma’am?’” can go a long way toward communicating respect.

“I didn’t know it was okay to ask,” Quigley admitted. “A lot of the officers didn’t know. So we definitely learned something from the video.”

According to the Cohasset Police Department’s policy, if an individual uses a name other than what is printed on their legal documents, officers must address them by their adopted name.

If a subject must be searched or frisked, the procedure should be done by an officer of the gender that the subject is expressing.

If the subject must be brought to the station, he or she must be transported alone or with other detainees of the gender that he or she is expressing, and must be placed in a cell block according to the same principle.

Transgender individuals will not be required to remove wigs, makeup or other accessories in order to be booked at the station, but may be asked to surrender appearance items that could represent a danger in the holding cell.

Quigley said, “The policy is to provide guidance and direction for the officers and to reinforce that we treat every individual with respect and fairness. We’re there to make the situation better… and now we’re armed with the tools we need to help.”

Follow Amanda on Twitter for updates: @MarinerAmandaT