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Human Rights Watch criticizes D.C. police in new report

Report claims police confiscation of condoms places sex workers at higher HIV risk

Published

13 years ago

on

Gay News, Washington Blade, Gay D.C.

Peter Newsham (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

A new report concludes that the confiscation of condoms from prostitutes and other sex workers during police investigations places them at increased risk of HIV.

Human Rights Watch officially released the 12-page report at a press conference at the National Press Club on Thursday that includes interviews with more than 300 current or former sex workers, activists, law enforcement and public health officials in D.C., New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco. These include Felicia C., a sex worker in Columbia Heights who said that police officers told her to throw away her condoms last December.

“I told them ‘No I am not throwing them in the garbage,’” she said, as noted in the report. “I don’t want to die!”

Others pointed to what they described to Human Rights Watch as the Metropolitan Police Department’s “3-condom rule.”

“In 2011 they locked me up in the 5th district,” said Nila R. “The cop told me I could have three condoms and threw the others out, I had 10 altogether. Also, an open condom is a charge. I’ve been locked up for it, the cops told me they were locking me up for an open condom.”

Human Rights Watch urges law enforcement and prosecutors in the four cities highlighted in the report to adopt policies that prohibit the use of condom possession as evidence against suspected sex workers. The report further calls upon the MPD, the New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco Police Departments to emphasize the importance of condoms to prevent the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. It also urges the D.C. Council and New York and California lawmakers to either repeal or reform broad loitering laws designed to curb prostitution.

“Eliminating HIV infections is a national priority and ensuring the availability of condoms among those at highest risk is critical,” said Megan McLemore, senior health researcher at Human Rights Watch.

Transgender activist Ruby Corado, who is among those who spoke at the National Press Club, told the Blade that this report does not come as a surprise. The Department of Health distributed more than five million male and female condoms in 2011, but she stressed that policing policies outlined in the Human Rights Watch report undermine these programs.

“If you’re going to address HIV and AIDS, you want to make sure you address things that are important,” she said.

Assistant D.C. police chief Peter Newsham told the Blade that the MPD rarely uses condoms as evidence in prostitution-related cases. “It’s a very rare occurrence for us to seize condoms in a prostitution investigation,” he stressed. “The MPD is very much supportive of the city’s efforts to distribute condoms to help prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS.”

The Human Rights Watch report notes that Newsham said that he was “concerned” about reports that MPD officers stopped and searched suspected sex workers during “circumstances that suggested a lack of probable cause.” He told the Blade that those who experienced police harassment should contact the MPD.

Newsham went on to question the report’s accuracy.

“Human Rights Watch uses anecdotal examples that are really uncorroborated and unsupported to make their point,” he said. “That being said, there’s nothing to suggest either that they are true or not true. They could potentially be true; they could potentially be not true.”

Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive is one of the organizations that worked with Human Rights Watch on the report.

Cyndee Clay, the group’s executive director, told the Blade that her agency receives what she described as regular reports from sex workers who claim D.C. police officers have questioned the number of condoms they have in their possession. She urged the MPD to clarify its policy.

“They’re saying this isn’t something that’s happening on a regular basis and this is not something that they’re doing, than we’re asking them to work with us to clarify or do something to state it’s not happening,” said Clay. “Regardless of whether or not this is something that every officer is doing, this is something certain members of the community has experienced; more than one member of the community has experienced and it’s something that even if it happens a couple of times has a chilling effect on everyone else’s capacity and everyone else’s ability to carry condoms.”

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District of Columbia

25K people attend People’s March in D.C.

President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration is on Monday

Published

2 days ago

on

January 18, 2025

By

The People's March was held downtown Washington on Jan. 18, 2025. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Upwards of 25,000 people attended the People’s March that took place in D.C. on Saturday.

Participants — who protested against President-elect Donald Trump’s proposals they say would target transgender people, immigrants, women, and other groups — gathered at McPherson and Farragut Squares and Franklin Park before they joined the march that ended at the Lincoln Memorial.

The Gender Liberation Movement is among the groups that sponsored the march. Dozens of other People’s Marches took place in cities across the country on Saturday.

Trump’s inauguration will take place in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Monday.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key and Michael K. Lavers)

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Virginia

Arlington man arrested for arson at Freddie’s Beach Bar

Suspect charged with setting fires at two other nearby restaurants

Published

3 days ago

on

January 17, 2025

By

Timothy Clark Pollock (Photo courtesy of the Arlington County Fire Department)

The Arlington County Fire Department announced on Jan. 16 that an Arlington man has been arrested on three counts of arson for at least three fires set at restaurants on the same block on South 23rd Street, including Freddie’s Beach Bar and Restaurant, which is a gay establishment.

A statement released by the fire department says a warrant for the arrest of Timothy Clark Pollock was issued on Jan. 15 and that Clark was apprehended by Alexandria police on Jan. 16 at approximately 6:54 a.m. It says he was transferred into the custody of fire marshals and the Arlington Police Department.

Fire department officials have said the fires that Pollock allegedly set took place between 5 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 9, on the 500 block of South 23rd Street in the Crystal City section of Arlington.

Freddie Lutz, owner of Freddie’s, said the front door of his establishment was set on fire with what appeared to be a flammable liquid such as lighter fluid. The door was partially blackened by the fire, but the restaurant itself did not catch fire, Lutz said.

Fire department officials said the other two nearby establishments hit by small fires around that same time were the Crystal City Sports Pub and McNamara’s Pub and Restaurant.

Lutz told the Washington Blade that the fire at Freddie’s took place the day before and the day after Freddie’s received a threatening phone call from what sounded like the same unidentified male caller.

“He said I’m going to fuck you up and I’m going to fuck the women up,” Lutz said the person told Freddie’s manager, who answered the two calls.

Lutz speculated that the caller could have been the same person who started the fire at Freddie’s and possibly the other two restaurants.

The short statement by the Arlington County Fire Department announcing the arrest did not say whether fire and police investigators have determined a possible motive for the fires. The statement says Pollock was being held without bond and that he is “also facing additional charges for unrelated crimes, which remain under investigation.”

The online Arlington news publication ARLNow reports that a Facebook account associated with Timothy C. Pollock includes a photo from inside Freddie’s posted on Facebook on Dec. 21.

Lutz confirmed for the Blade the photo is clearly one that was taken inside Freddie’s showing Christmas decorations, leading Lutz to believe that Pollock has been inside Freddie’s at least once if not more than once.

Photos of Timothy C. Pollock on that person’s Facebook page appear to be the same Pollock as that captured in the mug shot photo of Pollock released by the Arlington County Fire Department on Jan. 16.

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Delaware

Delaware governor issues executive order creating LGBTQ+ Commission

Body to ‘strengthen ties’ between government and community

Published

3 days ago

on

January 17, 2025

By

Delaware Gov. Bethany Hall-Long, center, on Jan. 16, 2025, signed an executive order that created the state's first LGBTQ+ Commission. (Photo courtesy of Sussex Pride)

Delaware Gov. Bethany Hall-Long on Jan. 16 signed and issued an executive order creating a Delaware State LGBTQ+ Commission that she said will hold public forums for the exchange of ideas on the needs of the state’s diverse LGBTQ community.

“The nine-member commission will serve to strengthen ties between the government and LGBTQ+ organizations,” a statement released by the governor’s office says.

The statement adds that the new commission will “help remove barriers to societal participation for LGBTQ+ people and improve the delivery of services to the community in Delaware to areas such as employment, equality, education, and mental health.”

It says that members of the commission will be appointed by the governor and serve without monetary compensation for a three-year term.

According to the statement, the commission members “will represent different facets of the LGBTQ+ community, taking into account age, race, gender, identity, background, life experiences and other factors, and reflect the geographic diversity of the state.”

Hall-Long’s executive order creating the new commission came at a time when she is serving in effect as interim governor for a period of just two weeks. As lieutenant governor, she became governor on Jan. 7 when outgoing Gov. John Carney resigned to take office in his newly elected position of mayor of Wilmington.

Carney, who served two terms as governor, could not run again for that position under Delaware’s term limit law. Democrat Matt Myer won the governor’s election in November and will be sworn in as Delaware’s next governor on Jan. 21, when Hall-Long will step down.

Myer was expected to appoint the commission members in the weeks following his assumption of gubernatorial duties.

“Ultimately, the commission will advise the governor, members of the governor’s Cabinet, members of the General Assembly, and other policymakers on the effect of agency policies, procedures, practices, laws, and administrative rules on the unique challenges and needs of LGBTQ+ people,”  the statement released by Hall-Long’s office says.

“It is truly an honor to bring this commission to fruition, and I am very excited to see the positive changes the commission will make in the lives of our LGBTQ+ neighbors,” Hall-Long said in the statement.

David Mariner, executive director of Sussex Pride, an LGBTQ advocacy group based in Delaware’s Sussex County, which includes Rehoboth Beach, praised the new executive order as an important step in advancing LGBTQ equality.

“It is my hope that through this commission, we can address the critical issues facing LGBTQ Delawareans,” Mariner said in his own statement.

“This includes developing an LGBTQ health report with a tangible roadmap to health equity, increasing collaboration and communication on hate crimes and hate-related activities, and ensuring that nondiscrimination protections, guaranteed by law, are a reality for all of our residents,” he said.

The statement announcing the LGBTQ+ Commission and the full text of the executive order can be accessed here. 

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