- Malcolm Gage
Thomas Caramucci, general manager of the W Dallas – Victory hotel, issued a statement Sunday responding to our inquiry about two alleged anti-gay incidents at the hotel on Friday night following the Lady Gaga concert at the American Airlines Center. Both incidents reportedly involved the same off-duty Dallas police officer who was working security at the hotel. Derrick Brown, chair of the North Texas GLBT Chamber of Commerce, alleges that the off-duty officer used excessive force by choking him during a confrontation that occurred as Brown was making his way to Ghostbar, inside the W. Another gay man, Malcolm Gage, said his group was unfairly denied access to the hotel when they tried to visit friends who were staying there. Brown and Gage, who are both black, indicated that they planned to file an internal affairs complaint against the officer today.
“Thank you for reaching out to us,” Caramucci said in an e-mail sent Sunday. “We are aware of the incident and are currently looking further into the details of the situation, in cooperation with the Dallas Police Department. Please know that the safety and comfort of our guests is our top priority and any and all situations receive our utmost attention. Again, thanks for your inquiry. As you are aware W Dallas – Victory and the W brand are a strong supporters of the LGBT community and we appreciate the opportunity to respond.”
It’s worth noting that Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, which owns the W Dallas -Victory, received a perfect score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index in 2010. Stay tuned to Instant Tea and Dallas Voice for details about the investigation.
I hope that DPD’s investigation of this will be objective, thorough, and extensive. Regardless of the outcome, there have been several glaring incidents that demonstrate that many DPD officers could benefit greatly from training/education related to dealing with diverse communities, not just the LGBT community. A professional law enforcement agency must be well trained and well educated. In my opinion, this should be a major objective for our new police chief and an priority expectation from the Dallas community.
That should have been “a priority expectation”
Any update on this? It is sad that Mr. Gage’s complaint has generated such negative feedback, all because people misunderstood his customer service complaint and confused it with his friend’s much more serious complaint about excessive force. This story is not about Mr. Gage, his profession or his state of mind on Friday night. It is about an out-of-control off-duty police officer who attacked Derrick Brown.