Editorial

Because of the nature of our work, frequent examples of police malpractice come to our attention. Like the Negro in this regard, the homosexual seems to be an easy prey for abuses at the time of his arrest. What should be a routine encounter between a policeman and a homosexual citizen becomes something else again. It all stems from the fact that in 49 of our 50 states the homosexual is constantly and deliberately degraded by the archaic laws on the statute books In its language the law makes reference to the homosexual and homosexual acts in terms that are more disparaging than those in regard to anything else So the homosexual must be beware of the law and the police who uphold it. The abuse of the homosexual by the police in any circumstance where they maneuver their victim into a degrading and humiliating arrest is an evil in itself And we believe that these all too frequent cases of entrapment and physical violence represent a picture of law enforcement as the offender and justice as the offended.

For this reason we would like to go on record as favoring civilian review boards to investigate complaints of police malpractice Under present conditions in most cities there is no satisfactory means by which a homosexual, or any other citizen for that matter, who believes he has been mistreated by the police can complain or seek redress No matter where the person takes his complaint (if he has the courage to complain at all), he will find that the matter goes to the police for settlement. The complainer, then, must be content with having the police investigate themselves

So many homosexuals, and many members of the non-homosexual community, have suffered by this process that we no longer have any confidence in it as a solution to the problem. To us, as to many others, the situation clearly calls for new agencies to be set up to receive and investigate complaints concerning police practices and they must be completely independent of the police departments

We see nothing radical in making law enforcement agencies subject to inspection where problems in their law enforcement techniques are brought to light. What is wrong with a practical method of publicly and periodically calling them to account? An enlightened and vitalized public opinion could only result and certainly we would see an improved relationship between the police and those they arrest.