Dallas police, community partner to address hate crime and safety for LGBT community
Dallas police are introducing a new initiative to help reduce the number of hate crimes against LGBT people and help encourage victims to come forward in a partnership with the community, according to a news release.
The Safe Place program, inspired by something similar in Seattle, relies on local businesses and organizations to volunteer as a safe place for the LGBT community. These businesses will be designated with a placard from Dallas police.
Anybody who is being threatened, has been attacked or does not feel safe can seek shelter in an LGBT-friendly business and wait for police to arrive, according to the release.
The Safe Place program has been created in a partnership with Dallas Hope Charities and the Collective Hope Coalition, hoping the initiative will help reduce crimes against the LGBT community. These designated safe places are not just for members of the LGBT community who are victims of crime or feel they are in danger, according to police, but do have an emphasis on hate crimes against the community.
Dallas police said anybody who is the victim of a crime can go into a safe place and know they will “be treated fairly and with dignity.”
The department said the initiative is in response to an uptick in hate crimes against LGBT people.