Lanier now freely admits she’s “lucky to call David a friend.” But Lanier and her hand-picked, ‘unbiased’ Task Force boss, David Friedman, are a bit more than just friends.

Lanier also attended and graduated from Friedman’s ADL Advanced Training School,(ATS) which Friedman created to train law enforcement officers in counter-terrorism programs. There’s not a thing wrong with that.

But Lanier’s failure to mention that is more than a little significant to the credibility of her “impartial review” of MPD’s handling of hate crimes. Presumably, ADL’s ATS training was not provided free of charge to Lanier and/or MPD.

Then there was the ADL Annual Meeting 5 years ago, at which DC’s relatively new police chief was awarded ADL’s prestigious Sigmund Livingston Award, described by ADL as recognizing “leaders who have demonstrated a lifelong commitment to protecting others, fighting injustice and intolerance, and dedication to the ideals of the Anti-Defamation League.”

Seriously, ADL? Cathy Lanier had been chief less than 18 months at that point, and had just a year earlier tried to dismantle MPD’s award-winning Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit.

Call me kooky, but that’s a history that can put the lie to any police chief’s claims of unbiased investigation of one’s own PD.

Lanier investigating Lanier’s MPD is just laughably ludicrous.

No police department can withstand the taint of corruption and malfeasance without the persistent and diligent oversight of the local legislative body whose J.O.B. it is to do that.

Mendelson repeatedly avoided any serious investigation of Lanier’s malfeasant MPD– even when he was alerted to the coverups and MPD abuses of rape and sexual assault victims by MPD’s police union president. We need to demand better of Tommy Wells and the entire Council.

– google: “Cops union: Mendelson ignored sex assaults allegations”
– google: “ADL Honors Chief of Police Cathy Lanier – Reuters”
– also for more Lanier / MPD / ADL hypocrisies, google…
“NOM ADL Urges DC Police to Investigate Motive Behind FRC”
– for related MPD sex crimes coverup charges [video] google:
“YouTube DC Police Fail Rape Victims”

Thanks again to Jason Terry. Terry ought to consider another career as a LGBT news investigative reporter… or maybe for Human Rights Watch. Many thanks also to the Blade for its continuing coverage of LGBT public safety issues.