Scottish Cops 'More Gay-Friendly' Than S.F Police

By Erin Sherbert Tue., Feb. 22 2011 at 8:37 AM

Categories: LGBT

Real cops wear skirts

It turns out San Francisco isn't the gayest city after all. New research shows that Scottish cops are friendlier toward its gay community and it's not just because they are willing to wear kilts.

Lisa Buchanan, an adviser on the Northern Constabulary, the police force for Northern Scotland, rattles off statistics that show San Francisco cops are not as approachable as those in Scotland.

More victims of anti-gay hate crimes report their incidents to police in Scotland than those in San Francisco, the gay Mecca. Buchanan spent four months with the San Francisco Police Department as part of her research.

"In terms of investigating homophobic hate incidents their approach is comparable to ours, yet there are much fewer victims coming forward," said Buchanan, whose research was inspired by the film "Milk". Who cares that the SFPD has it's own Police Officers' Pride Alliance when the discrepancy, she says, has much to do with how police engage the community. The full study will be released later this year.

"In Scotland, and in the north, I think we enjoy much better community relations than they do in San Francisco," Buchanan said.

To draw one sharp comparison, the Scottish police this month launched a new Web site, where citizens can report hate crimes online -- something San Francisco does not have.

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Tags:

gay friendly, kilts, Northern Constabulary, Police Officers' Pride Alliance, Scotish cops

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NoUsernameGiven

As s former member of Police staff in Scotland, and a member of the LGBT community here, I'm sorry to report that this article in no way reflects the reality. I've been subject to hate crime during two periods in my life. On both occasions, the Scottish police (specifically, Strathclyde Police) did absolutely nothing to help me. Given that on one of the occasions the officer I reported the matter to was a former colleague with whom I had a good prior working relationship, I can only imagine that people with no connection to the police receive an even less helpful response than I did.

Bottom line: I'd never trust the police in Scotland enough to report any hate crime to them again. They don't take the problem seriously, despite all the rhetoric they spout on the subject. Ask any member of the LGBT community here and they'll tell you the exact same thing. The Police attitude to our community is a joke, and their response to crimes committed against us is beyond pathetic.