Laura Martin, LGBT liaison officer for the Dallas Police Department, informed me moments ago that an aggravated robbery on Throckmorton Street over the weekend has been reclassified as an anti-gay hate crime. Martin said she met this morning with her lieutenant and Assistant Chief Floyd Simpson, who’s over patrol. Simpson made the decision to reclassify the incident as a hate crime based in part on anti-gay slurs used by the four suspects when they attacked the two victims with baseball bats just a few blocks from the Cedar Springs strip.
Police initially said they weren’t treating the incident as an anti-gay hate crime, prompting concern from many in the LGBT community.
“Chief Simpson agrees that it should have been flagged as a hate crime, and so that is the way it will be investigated,” Martin said late this morning. “I think some patrol officers are probably under the impression that they can’t really designate things as hate crimes. That doesn’t mean that we can’t go through and change things. It’s just a matter of who actually does change it, so it’s being done.”
Martin said classifying the incident as a hate crime will give the investigation higher priority.
“If someone’s targeted because of who they are and they’re in a protected class, there is more attention that needs to be paid,” she said. “We don’t want people coming down in the Cedar Springs area and thinking they can just beat up and rob members of the GLBT community because it just seems like a fun thing to do. We don’t want people thinking that’s OK to do, so I can assure you that it will be investigated and given plenty of attention.”
Martin added that as of this morning, there were no suspects. Anyone with information about the incident can call Crime Stoppers at 214-373-TIPS (8477) or 1-877-373-8477.
Look for full coverage in Friday’s Voice.
12 Comments
This is good news! Hopefully the attackers will be arrested and their victims will get the justice they deserve.
No doubt part of the reason was because of the outcries in the LGBT community as well. We still need to do something about crime in the area. I am still in favor of patrols. Maybe this could be a topic at the next DGLA meeting?
Bad weekend in the area…Friday a little drag queen was robbed at gunpoint in the parking lot across from Rainbow Lounge!
@Hardy…I totally agree…at one time we tried to get members of the community to go through volunteer patrol training which is offered by the DPD. Last time I heard, there were only two volunteer patrol officers taking care of the Cedar Springs entertainment district. Do these officers still patrol the gayborhood? I don’t think we need to have a bunch of crazed people running around with guns, bats, and stun guns. I think we should get people who truly want to make our area safe and willing to take a little training. I’m in!!!
Tisha, we already have a bunch of crazed people running around with guns, bats and stun guns. That group is commonly referred to as the Dallas Police Department.
LOL…touche
Hey Dallas Voice…where’s the story about the robbery in Fort Worth? If what Robert says is true, I’ve read nothing about it in the papers.
Tisha,
Not suggesting a bunch of crazed folks with stun guns. I agree. Training and dedicated volunteers will make a difference. The best thing they can do is to be vigilant and be visible. No citizen arrests or vigilante stuff just extra eyes on the street and a sober well connected presence. I’m in too!
James Simmons who is the first person you call if you were attacked? 911 the police. I know most of the officers who work in this area and we cant leave everything up to them. What I like to know if you live in the community or do you just come down here for entertainment? Some of us live down here and walk to the store and other retails in the community. So it’s very personal to us, maybe you should make it personal to you because next time it could be you and you will be calling those police officers you call crazy with a guy. Think about what you are saying.
Business owners, residents, gay folk who come down here to entertain, should ALL stand up and start taking our streets back. Two men were beaten in Austin and within a week there were over a thousand people in the streets. In Dallas gay folk here dont really care as much they just want to complain about it from their computers. This a wakeup call my friend. If you want to know who I am (Michael Robinson) key witness in the Jimmy Lee Dean hate crime case.
Tony: I too saw Robert’s comments, and I am trying to find information on that right now. If anyone has any details – maybe someone can point me to the person who was robbed? – please e-mail me at nash@dallasvoice.com
@Hardy, my email address is brufanegra@hotmail.com. Anyone else can email me as well if you want to take the training together. I live a block from Cedar Springs and I’m afraid to leave my apt at night or to just go to the laundry room in my complex at night. What’s even sadder is that I can see the balcony of Roundup from my apt and I honestly don’t believe anyone would help me if I was screaming for help. This is ridiculous. I shouldn’t have to live like this and people should not be afraid to come out and party.
Michael, thanks for your comments. However, I need to set the record straight (pardon the expression). First of all, I haven’t been attacked in the ‘hood. And the one time that it looked like I *might* be attacked, I showed the would-be attacker my 357 magnum. It’s like the American Express card: don’t leave home without it, because you can’t count on the police for protection. Secondly, you asked me who I *would* call if I *were* attacked (an unlikely scenario). It would NOT be the police, because that would be a big waste of time and effort. The DPD is the laughingstock of law enforcement nationwide. Once they prove to me that they can do their jobs without harassing innocent citizens, fabricating and planting false evidence and framing innocent victims, then I may change my tune. But for now, I don’t even feel safe in a donut shop. And lastly, it’s not that I don’t care. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t carry a gun (with extra ammo).