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PUBLIC SAFETY Rogue Valley police receive training in dealing with LGBTQ community Comment By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Posted May. 11, 2015 at 4:35 PM Updated May 11, 2015 at 4:37 PM By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Posted May. 11, 2015 at 4:35 PM Updated May 11, 2015 at 4:37 PM » Social News When it comes to issues such as jail-booking procedures for transgender people or domestic violence incidents involving same-sex couples, Jackson County Sheriff Corey Falls says additional training and awareness for law enforcement benefit everyone. "It can come up anywhere. We're in the people business. We deal with people all the time," Falls said. "Unfortunately, we deal with people when sometimes they're at their worst, and that's why we come into interactions with them." On Monday, several Rogue Valley law enforcement agencies received some of that additional training at the sheriff's department headquarters. Attendees packed the sheriff's department conference room to learn best practices in law-enforcement interactions with gay and transgender people at a seminar called "Policing and the LGBTQ community," hosted by Lotus Rising Project. The seminar addressed topics such as dealing with juveniles, how police can contribute to more productive outcomes, gender identity, roles and societal expectations. "We need to be able to deal with people where they are," said Julie Akins, executive director of Lotus Rising Project. "It also just opens up dialogue about general prejudices." Carey Jean Sojka and Amanda Singh Bans, Southern Oregon University adjunct professors of women's studies and sociology, respectively, led the discussion. Agencies taking part included the sheriff's department, Oregon State Police, the Jackson County District Attorney's Office, police departments from Medford, Ashland, Talent and Eagle Point, and several social-service organizations. Falls said Akins approached him with the idea after he was elected and he told her he was receptive. "Anytime we can train anybody on underrepresented populations, I'm for it," Falls said. Tighe O'Meara, Ashland's interim police chief, said more education for officers in dealing with the transgender community is especially needed. "That's still the big learning point," O'Meara said. "It's one of the last pieces to this, and especially with the corrections environment." O' Meara added he hasn't heard of any incidents of discrimination in his department specifically, but that the education component is still important for officers. "I myself am a member of the gay community, and so I'm sensitive to these issues, and I certainly have never seen them pop up, but it's going to pop up at some point," O'Meara said. "There will be instances where the officers have to take a step back and recognize that they need to adjust course a little bit, and if we offend someone as we're doing our jobs, we'll try to learn from it and do it a little bit better the next time." Talent police Chief Mike Moran added the need is also crucial in dealing with domestic violence situations, as LGBTQ members may be less likely to report incidents over concerns it won't be fairly handled by police. "I think a great deal of progress has been made in that area though," Moran said. "In certain domestic violence cases people were not reporting it because they were in, for example, a gay relationship, and they didn't report abuse. But within that community, just like anyplace else, there's domestic violence that occurs." Reach reporter Ryan Pfeil at 541-776-4468 or [email protected] . Follow him at www.twitter.com/ryanpfeil . By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Ryan Pfeil Mail Tribune Posted May. 11, 2015 at 4:35 PM Updated May 11, 2015 at 4:37 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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