New survey aims to start to fix bad relationship between Hamilton police and LGBTQ community

A new survey intended to find a facilitator between Hamilton police and the LGBTQ community is, the chair of the Department of Sociology at McMaster University says, a good place to start to fix a broken relationship. 

"The survey is designed to set the conditions to start these conversations and hopefully to produce positive communications and build relationships," says Tina Fetner. "We're not at the point where we're solving the problems yet. We're just laying a good foundation." 

Community members can fill out the survey, announced Friday, anonymously.

The report also says that comments made by former chief Eric Girt after the event damaged the relationship further with the community, and that the service owes the community an apology.

Protesters arrived at the park in 2019 bearing religious signs and using a loudspeaker to shout homophobic claims. A group wearing pink masks used a large black cloth barricade to block them from view, and violence broke out. Several people were injured. A Kitchener man, Christopher Vanderweide, pleaded guilty to one count of assault with a weapon and received a one-year suspended sentence that includes anger management counselling.

Fetner says an integral part of these changes is to create new relationships with the LGBTQ community, and "to get their input into what characteristics they think are appropriate for a mediator, what kind of process they would like to see and what kind of issues they would like to address with Hamilton police services."

Police liaison officer

In a move that Fetner is "delighted to see," the police department has also hired liaison officer Det. Const. Rebecca Moran. 

"It's a genuine process, and I think that it will be very transparent. And I think it's safe for participants to log on, and to be able to speak freely and be able to provide input that maybe they wouldn't otherwise be able to provide if it weren't facilitated through an institution like McMaster University.

Moran also points out that the Hamilton Police "know trust has been lost." 

"We want the community to be able to speak freely and to have it provide inclusive and diverse perspectives about what the community wants." 

And while this outlook provides inclusivity, Fetner points out that other police services and units struggle with the same issues with their queer communities. 

She says it's time to integrate better ideas and reforms into them. 

"Personally, I would like to see that kind of dedication to having good relations with the queer community be part of a police culture throughout the department or throughout police services. 

The 2SLGBTQIA+ Engagement Survey runs until September 30 and is open to anyone 18 years and older who considers themselves part of the LGBTQ community.