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The D.C. Trans Coalition’s Jason Terry told the Washington D.C. Council during a hearing that the Metropolitan Police Department and it’s Chief Cathy Lanier, has “abdicated its responsibility to keep trans people in the District of Columbia safe.”

Council member Phil Mendelson led this hearing following news that the U.S. Justice Department recently began investigating the city’s bias against trans people and a ‘low closure rate’ on crimes against them.

Terry on Chief Lanier: “Rather than attempt to solve crimes, or to advocate for safer conditions for trans people, Chief Lanier simply says it is on us not to get killed,”

Terry noted that the recent murder of Deoni Jones was the first instance of a trans murder to be solved in a decade — there are seven unsolved cold cases on the books. He also cited the dubious behavior of off-duty DC cops towards trans people.

I’ll update as this story develops.

(A few days after this hearing, DC police officer Kenneth Furr was indicted for shooting a trans woman last August: https://lexiecannes.wordpress.com/2012/03/08/finally-dc-cop-indicted-in-august-shooting-of-transgender-woman/ )

More about the hearing: Activist Tells Council He’s ‘Lost Confidence’ When MPD Investigates Anti-Transgender Crimes: DCist.

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Categories: Discrimination, Equality, Civil Rights, Transgender, Transsexual, Trans