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SFPD says transgender training nearly citywide after multi-year effort
Summary
Lieutenant Thorne told the commission the department began transgender community awareness training in 1995 and expanded it to all stations in 2003–2004; 808 members attended 19 sessions earlier this year and the department expects to complete remaining trainings within two months.
Lieutenant Thorne briefed the Police Commission on Aug. 5 about the San Francisco Police Department’s transgender community awareness training, tracing the program to 1995 and describing an expansion in the early 2000s that extended training from academy classes to command staff and all district stations.
"Since June of 1995, we have had 54 academy classes that have come through our academy and each of them has received transgender community awareness training," Thorne said. He told commissioners that 19 training sessions were held between January and May of this year and that "a total of 808 members were trained in those 19 trainings" with 383 staff still scheduled to complete the program.
Thorne emphasized that the program is taught by community members, including instructors from the transgender community and a trainer who transitioned while serving with the police, and credited partnerships with the Human Rights Commission and local community leaders for the training's effectiveness.
Commissioner Theresa Sparks described the training's impact in reducing complaints and noted past harms: she said earlier decades saw substantial violence and discrimination against transgender people and cited two lawsuits that resulted in significant payouts. Sparks and other commissioners called the training culturally and fiscally important.
Thorne said the department expects to complete the remaining trainings across all bureaus this year and thanked the commission and community partners for helping implement the curriculum.
