The Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) has made a significant policy change, stating that it will no longer disclose the gender or race of victims in its proactive information releases.
This move, announced on Wednesday, comes in response to concerns raised by LGBT activists about potential "misgendering" of victims.
The policy change, however, will not affect open records or crime statistics, and will not be applicable to crime suspects. Heather Hough, the MPD's chief of staff, described the policy shift as a measure to "preserve the dignity and privacy of all victims." She added, "MPD wants to ensure the best service possible for our entire community."
The policy change was initiated earlier this year after the MPD's LGBTQ liaison, Sgt. Guadalupe Velasquez, requested it. This followed a 2022 report by the department that "misgendered" three transgender-identifying individuals who had been killed in Milwaukee.
"We don't want to make a traumatic experience for a family worse," Velasquez told TMJ4. When questioned about whether the department's previous "misgendering" of trans-identifying victims had negatively impacted the LGBTQ community, Velasquez confirmed, "Based on the conversations I had, yes."
Velasquez further explained that the gender of a victim is "not always readily available" and that the new policy would ensure the department doesn't get it wrong. She believes that the policy will foster trust with the LGBT community and advance the department's inclusivity objectives.
However, the policy change has been met with criticism. Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, labeled the policy a "terrible idea," arguing that the public has a right to know about victim demographics.
Lueders told Fox News Digital, "It is troubling that the knee-jerk response to so many perceived problems is to block access to information." He questioned, "Does the public really not have a right to know if minorities, for instance, are disproportionately victims of crime? Does it not have the right to know if people are being killed because of their gender?"
Kathleen Bartzen Culver, director of the journalism school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, voiced similar concerns. She told TMJ4, "Are women more at risk to be crime victims? Are men more at risk? Are transgender folks more at risk? So those longer-term stories, that's where we definitely need to be able to dive into the data and look for trends, look for things that ought to concern us as citizens."
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