BPD seeks cooperation of club owners in reducing crime

Detectives from the Boston Police Department's Community Disorders Unit (CDU) told a gathering of LGBT bar and club owners June 25 that there has been a steady rise in LGBT-related hate crime investigations in the city in the past four years, particularly in police districts D4, which covers the South End, Back Bay, Lower Roxbury and Fenway; and C11, which covers Dorchester.

The CDU detectives, along with city licensing officials, other Boston Police personnel and representatives from Fenway Community Health's Violence Recovery Program (VRP), met with bar owners and staff at the South End's Benjamin Franklin Institute to request their help in reporting crimes taking place in their establishments. They also sought to reassure owners that calling 911 to report an incident would not jeopardize their liquor licenses.

The South End meeting was the second phase of a joint campaign by the CDU and the Fenway to raise public awareness within the LGBT community about public safety. Earlier this month the Fenway's club outreach workers began distributing posters to bars and clubs with safety tips for people meeting up in bars, clubs and online. Kelcie Cooke, coordinator for the VRP, said her organization and the CDU hoped to form a partnership with bar owners to learn about the violence and safety issues they see in their establishments. Ordinarily, the VRP and CDU only learn about incidents that get reported to the police or the VRP hotline, but Cooke hopes that bar owners would now be able to provide a fuller picture about incidents taking place.

"We know you guys see things firsthand that we don't see," said Cooke.

Det. Sgt. Carmen Curry of the CDU told attendees that they reached out to the bar owners in response to the increase in hate crime investigations, particularly in D4.

"What we found [after examining the hate crimes statistics] is there was a substantial increase in district 4 ... of hate crimes occurring in that particular community," said Curry.

She said in 2004 the CDU conducted nine hate crimes investigations in D4, but by 2007 the number of investigations more than doubled, with the CDU investigating 21 potential hate crimes last year. In 2004 the CDU investigated three potential anti-LGBT hate crimes in Dorchester's C11 district; by 2007 that number swelled to 13. Across the city as a whole the number increased from 28 investigations in 2004 to 56 in 2007.

Curry told Bay Windows she was unsure how many of those incidents took place at LGBT bars and clubs, but she said the CDU decided to reach out to bar and club owners after receiving a handful of reports of robberies and other incidents in and around LGBT bars. This year at least two violent incidents in and around LGBT bars in Boston have generated headlines. In January, 20-year-old Roxbury hair stylist Daniel Yakovleff was found stabbed to death in a Dorchester apartment; he was last seen in the South End's Boston Eagle bar. His murder remains unsolved. Last month Daniel D'Orsi, a 22-year-old Northeastern student, was brutally assaulted and robbed while walking past Fritz bar in the South End in the early morning hours, and he alleged that his assailant shouted anti-gay slurs at him during the assault.

Capt. William Evans, commander of the D4 police, cautioned that not all of the hate crime incidents investigated by the CDU were robberies and that not all of the incidents took place near LGBT establishments.

"Last year violent crime in our district, I think we were down 17 percent. ... I think if you look at the stats there, it may not be all people getting knocked down and robbed," said Evans.

Police did not speculate as to the cause for the increase in investigations, but VRP coordinator Kelcie Cooke said the rise in cases could mean either that there are more hate crimes taking place or that CDU was doing a more effective job screening incident reports for potential hate crimes. She said the VRP has worked closely with the CDU over the years and is confident in their work to address anti-LGBT violence.

"They've become great allies in the community," said Cooke.

Jack Rapetti, owner of the Eagle, blamed the increase in violence in part on the state anti-smoking laws, which went into effect in 2004. He said the ban forces smokers to congregate on the streets outside the bars, making them easy targets for gay-bashers. He said the law forces bar owners to try to keep order on the sidewalks outside their own establishments.

"You're putting them on the sidewalk," said Rapetti, who also tends bar at his establishment. "You're the one putting them in the precarious position. If they were inside we'd have control of the situation. ... You're saying we're responsible for what goes on out there, and I think that's a grave injustice [against bar owners]."

Patricia Malone, director of the Mayor's Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing, said her office understands that violence is a constant risk at venues selling alcohol and that the city does not penalize establishments because their patrons turn violent or because a crime takes place on the premises. She said many bar owners worry that if they call the police to report an incident their establishment will receive a licensing violation and possibly lose its liquor license. Malone said that in fact her office views a 911 call from an establishment as a sign that staff took appropriate action to stop the incident.

"What I'm looking for is to make sure the licensee was in no way negligent in handling the issue," said Malone.

Angela Romanska, who works at the Midway in Jamaica Plain, asked the police what sort of training officers receive on hate crimes and on sensitivity towards the LGBT community. Curry explained that the CDU leads all new officers in an eight-hour hate crime training session and puts seasoned officers through regular hate crimes in-service trainings. Cooke said the VRP also does regular trainings with local law enforcement.

Officer Javier Pagan, the Boston Police liaison to the LGBT community, told Romanska that bar owners should contact him if they encounter an officer who acts unprofessionally or fails to take their concerns seriously. He said in most cases he can speak with the officer's supervisor and, if the situation warrants it, take disciplinary action.

"If an officer goes to your establishment and gives you attitude or uses curse words, there are ways we can deal with that," said Pagan.

Following the meeting Romanska said she was satisfied with Pagan and Curry's response to her concerns.

"For the officers out on patrol, I want to make sure they have a heightened awareness of what they can look for [to spot hate crimes] and prevent it if it happens," said Romanska.

Bar and club owners asked few questions during the meeting, but a handful that spoke said they were enthusiastic about taking part in the Fenway and CDU poster campaign. Joe McGowan, assistant manager at Fritz, said he thought the posters were an important step in increasing safety in the bars, but he has not yet received any and felt that there was little awareness among bar owners about the campaign. When he asked attendees to raise their hand if they had received a poster, not one hand went up. Cooke invited attendees to speak with her and arrange to get copies of the posters into their bars.

Evans told attendees that when police learn about hate crimes and other attacks on patrons at LGBT bars they will deploy additional officers to those neighborhoods and increase patrols around the affected bars to help prevent future incidents. In order to do that he said it was crucial that bar owners themselves make sure that police learn about incidents that take place in and around their establishments.

"The big issue for me is the reporting of the crime," said Evans. "I come to meetings sometimes and hear about assaults I knew nothing about."