Respectfully, I do read Trans Woman’s comment differently in its context. I believe she was directing her sentiments to MPD’s leadership. Now, they are not the words you or I would have chosen, but I believe that comment represents what a very large segment of the LGBT community is feeling about MPD’s leadership.

MPD is as professional a PD as they come. It is world class. Our nation’s capital attracts the best and brightest in many fields. Law enforcement is no exception. The FBI’s training facilities at Quantico is a big draw, too.

MPD’s rank and file is highly intelligent, highly educated, highly trained, highly motivated and not at all thin-skinned. They ARE pros. The body of our police department is stronger and more talented than the sum of the chiefs who head it. There is everything to be proud of in that.

The simple truth, however, is that the LGBT community has lost faith in MPD’s leadership. Accordingly, too much community trust in MPD has been lost as a result. And for good reason.

Whatever her intentions, for several years, Chief Lanier has repeatedly said one thing with respect to her support for GLLU and SLU, and done another. There is absolutely no reason to believe that anything she promises now to strengthen GLLU central, won’t drift to the back burner and be diluted to nothing once again.

Trust is the essential glue which binds a community to its police force. It is not likely that the LGBT community will suddenly regain their trust in MPD (which took many years to RE-build, after all) if Lanier remains as Chief.

That’s how fragile community/ police trust is. When a significant segment of the population loses trust in its PD, it is time for new leadership, lest that mistrust continue to grow and adversely impact the city’s public safety more and more.

Chief Lanier is extremely talented and highly capable, but not anymore for this city, at this time. Another city, perhaps with similar public trust issues, could easily benefit from her considerable talent, however.

We need to rebuild GLLU central while continuing GLOV’s excellent training for officers throughout MPD’s districts. And we will best and most quickly achieve that with new leadership at MPD.

As I’ve noted many times before, that does NOT apply to MPD’s rank and file officers and their closest district PS commanders across the city, nor to Brett Parson, whom I know and admire, nor to GLLU’s central unit– which has been willfully decimated by Chief Lanier going on five years now.

There is a chain of command, and all line officers will do their duty, or else. Chief Lanier’s management techniques are well-known. That said, the responsibility buck stop with Lanier, too.

I seriously doubt Trans Woman was directing her remarks at MPD’s rank and file officers across the city. Nor should she be expected to know of Brett’s history and persona with many in DC’s LGBT community. But it is a VERY serious problem if the trans community doesn’t feel they have a safe haven to report harassment and hate crimes at GLLU central, away from the watchful eyes of their tormentors.

Brett Parson is a great, professional cop, first and foremost. He has a tough job, and he does it well, as he always has. He spoke the truth, and I have absolutely no doubt that he and MPD rank and file officers understand completely– and with great depth– the anger and frustration expressed by Trans Woman.

Back to the case itself, I’ve asked the question before… if MPD’s commander were so serious about getting help from the general public regarding this homicide, why did they not publish MPD’s dubious initial press release to ALL of its EIGHT MPD listservs– not just its tiny MPD-SLU listserv?

Why do the chiefs continue to use the MPD-SLU listserv as a closet for LGBT-related crimes, news and information? It just casts further doubt on Chief Lanier’s claims that she has “improved and expanded” GLLU services across the city.

Speaking of murder investigations, DC Trans Coalition has slammed Lou Chibbaro for what they call speculation for referring to the murder spot as “a location well known as a gathering place for transgender prostitutes and the men that patronize their services.” Did they check police records as Lou routinely does before they lobbed that charge? Is it that we want an investigation unless it brings out information that we don’t want to hear? Yes, of course news reporting and police investigation are two very different things; but the people doing them do not deserve hasty denunciations when they are trying to do their jobs. Please, it is in these awful, wrenching moments that we most need to exercise restraint. We need to keep struggling forward.