Mayor reassures gay community on security

By Ernie Suggs

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Mayor Kasim Reed and his new police chief sought Thursday night to reassure members of Atlanta's gay community that their safety matters to the city of Atlanta.

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Hyosub Shin, hshin@ajc.com APD police chief George Turner speaks as Atlanta City Council member Alex Wan (left) looks on during the town hall meeting Thursday to address recent crimes against members of the gay community at Inman Middle School in Atlanta.

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Hyosub Shin, hshin@ajc.com Mayor Kasim Reed speaks to audience as panelists, background from left, Atlanta City Council member Alex Wan, APD police chief George Turner, GLBT Liaison S.P.O. Patricia M. Powell, and APD Assistant Chief P.N. Andresen listen during the town hall meeting.

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Hyosub Shin, hshin@ajc.com Lorraine Fontana, of Atlanta, asks a question to panelists during the town hall meeting Thursday to address recent crimes against members of the gay community at Inman Middle School in Atlanta. The issue of crimes against gays gained traction after the July 2 robbery and assault on a gay couple in Piedmont Park.

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Hyosub Shin, hshin@ajc.com Cheryl Courtney-Evans, Founder of Transgender Individuals Living Their Truth, asks a question to panelists during the town hall meeting. The issue of crimes against gays gained traction after the July 2 robbery and assault on a gay couple in Piedmont Park. The APD is in the process of re-forming a GLBT advisory board, aimed at helping the department open lines of communication, and examine its policies and procedures with regards to the community.

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“We are not going to tolerate people putting you in harm’s way,” said Reed. “We can’t send out a message that we will tolerate anybody putting a gun to your chest. We are smart enough to protect communities and keep them safe.”

On the stage Thursday night was Police Chief George Turner, the city’s only openly gay city councilman, and the APD's liaison to the gay community. In the audience at Inman Middle School were dozens of members of the gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgendered community, who are trying to come to grips with violence against them as well as their own delicate relationship with the police department.

Turner said the key to addressing the issues is building partnerships.

“This is not unique,” said the new chief. “When we look at fighting crime, we have to look at the partnerships we build with communities. We came here today because of all of the comments about our department and the gay community. Our intent here is to come face to face with you all and encourage an open dialogue. Communities across this city want officers for them that are respectful and accountable.”

Called by Councilman Alex Wan, the l meeting was a response to a July 2 attack on two gay men in Piedmont Park by a group of teenagers. All of the attackers – ages 13 to 19 – have been arrested.

Although it was intended to be a town hall meeting about violence against gays, the meeting gently morphed into how the community perceives it is being treated by the police department.

“I am leery when we have conversations that are more reactive than proactive,” said Pastor Troy Sanders, who said he is openly gay.

Turner, along with his new liaison, Patricia Powell, fielded more than a dozen questions on issues ranging from the upcoming Pride parade to identifying gay police officers to the distinction between the general gay community and the transgendered.

Powell, who has been in her position since May, impressed the crowd with her opening salvo.

“I am proud to be an Atlanta police officer and proud to be openly gay,” Powell said.

She added that she is sifting through hundreds of applications for members to sit on a GLBT task force.

“And I will work with victims to make sure they are being treated with respect. I have a lot of challenges ahead of me. I have a lot of work to do,” Powell said

To help address some of the issues, Mayor Reed reminded the audience that the city just approved funding to hire 100 new police officers who will augment security throughout the city. He said the city is also working to install more security cameras in the area.

Reed said that Powell would soon travel to San Francisco to study how the SFPD deals with that city's gay community.

"It was important for me to be here so that there are no mixed messages about how I feel as mayor and how far we are willing to go to make sure the GLBT community feels they are a full part of the city of Atlanta," Reed said.

But some of the speakers questioned the city's methods -- particularly in dealing with the youth -- for whom they saw are often targeted by police, along with gays and transgendered. Several speakers said they were torn, including Joshua Noblitt, one of the two men attacked in Piedmont Park by teenagers.

Joshua Noblitt, one of the two men attacked in Piedmont Park July 2, attended Thursday night's meeting. Asked whether he had faith that the city and APD would keep their promised, Noblitt laughed.

“We’ll see. I hope they do. I think relationships are so important," he said. "Now I have the responsibility to follow up with these folks and say, ‘I remember meeting you at the town hall meeting.'”

Staff writer Chelsea Cook contributed to this report.