New York Civil Liberties Union Files Lawsuit Against NYPD Over Transgender Sensitivity Training Records

The New York chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has initiated legal action against the New York Police Department (NYPD) to obtain records that could reveal whether the department has adequately trained its officers in interacting with transgender and nonconforming individuals.

The NYPD was mandated to complete this training by the end of 2020, as stipulated in a prior settlement reached with the civil rights organization on November 9.

The lawsuit, filed in January 2019 on behalf of transgender advocate Linda Dominguez, a resident of the Bronx, alleges that during an encounter in April 2018, Linda was approached by three police officers while walking home from a bus stop. Despite Linda primarily speaking Spanish, the officers conversed with her in English. She provided her previous legal name, leading to her arrest for being in the park after hours and a charge of false impersonation. The ACLU claims that Linda also endured harassment from officers who repeatedly mocked her gender identity, despite NYPD patrol guide amendments dating back to 2012 that prohibit such behavior.

Ultimately, a settlement was reached between the civil rights organizations and the NYPD, wherein the authorities committed to:

1. Conduct roll-call training for all shifts at the 44th Precinct regarding interactions with transgender and nonconforming individuals.
2. Distribute a department-wide message reinforcing existing training guidelines on interactions with transgender and nonconforming community members.
3. Pay $30,000 to the “NYCLU Foundation as attorney for Linda Dominguez” as part of the settlement.

The recent lawsuit, filed on August 10 under New York’s Freedom of Information Law, seeks documents from the NYPD to verify whether the department fulfilled its obligations. The NYPD informed the NYCLU that it would provide the requested documents by December 29, as per court records.

However, the NYCLU contends that this potential four-and-a-half month delay is unacceptable, deeming it yet another instance of undue delay in responding to straightforward public records requests, thereby hindering timely access to crucial information.

NYPD, in response, declined to comment on the ongoing litigation, although it had denied the allegations on April 22, 2019, according to court records.

In 2012, the NYPD revised its Patrol Guide to prohibit discourteous or disrespectful remarks about a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity/expression. The revised guidelines instructed officers to address transgender New Yorkers by names, honorifics, and pronouns aligning with their gender identity, regardless of the information on their ID documents. The NYPD also amended forms to accommodate the recording and use of individuals’ “preferred name” while in police custody, as highlighted in a statement by the NYCLU praising these changes in June of that year.

However, the civil rights organization asserts that not much has changed regarding police interactions with transgender individuals in New York.

In a press release issued on Friday about the lawsuit, Gabriella Larios, a staff attorney with the New York Civil Liberties Union, emphasized the need for transparency, especially at a time when anti-transgender sentiments are escalating across the country. Larios stressed the importance of determining whether the NYPD has taken steps to end the enduring culture of discrimination against transgender people within the department, which has persisted for decades.