|
|
WINDY CITY TIMES
|
|---|
|
|
|
Letter: The search for Kevin
2008-04-30
|
|
This article shared 3927 times since Wed Apr 30, 2008
|
|
I hope the Kevin Clewer story in Windy City Times ( April 23, 2008 ) is productive though, sadly, it does not reflect any new proactive law enforcement initiatives toward resolving this tragic and unsolved homicide. I am perplexed by the continued search for the hardly elusive 'Fernando' suspect, as he was identified, arrested, questioned and released in March 2005. 'Fernando' was the last known person to be with Kevin at a Halsted Street bar and is therefore a suspect, though not necessarily the killer. This investigative tunnel vision resulting from exclusively focusing on 'Fernando' may well leave the actual offender undetected and free to commit additional crimes.
Investigative personnel unfamiliar with and/or biased toward certain non-traditional communities will reflect this bias throughout the investigation, whether LGBT, immigrant, homeless or other marginalized and underserved population segments. To be blunt, heterosexism and homophobia are as endemic in law enforcement as in society in general. Law enforcement agencies in general, and the Chicago Police Department ( CPD ) in particular, fail to welcome initiative, instead focusing on maintaining the status quo that is reflected in the hierarchal attitude of the organization and personnel.
This was readily apparent in the Chicago newspaper story at the time 'Fernando' was arrested by Area 3 police personnel, who disclosed their personal opinions to reporters in order to discredit that particular initiative after much investigative inertia. Additionally, there is a deliberate unwillingness to consider commonalities between similar crimes. As a former police officer, I know this institutional mindset can be improved and people better served if the decision is made to confront this attitude and institute change.
The CPD 'clears' only 38.8 percent of homicides, according to the 2006 annual report. The rate of actual solved and prosecuted cases is lower. This is a police department that has established an Animal Crimes Unit dedicated toward investigating violence against animals, yet refuses to establish a LGBT-focused unit with investigational authority to investigate crimes oriented toward the LGBT community.
Bob Zuley
Chicago |
|
|
|
This article shared 3927 times since Wed Apr 30, 2008
|
| ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE |
|---|
| 
|  | GLAAD: GOP primary debate includes question on anti-LGBTQ+ violence, candidates duck 2023-09-28
--From a press release - GLAAD: "Instead of addressing the critical issue of the safety and rights of all Americans, GOP primary candidates ignored the rise in violence and hateful rhetoric aimed at the LGBTQ community and our allies. Several chose ...
| 
| | Matthew Shepard film to be shown ahead of 25th anniversary of his death 2023-09-01
- Ahead of the 25th anniversary of Matthew Shepard's death, a new two-hour documentary has been announced to honor the posthumous impact made by the gay college student who died after being abducted, beaten and left for ...
| 
| | Man pleads guilty to hate crime at UpRising Bakery 2023-08-17
- Alsip, Illinois resident Joseph I. Collins, 25, pled guilty on Aug. 16 to committing a hate crime last summer at UpRising Bakery and Cafe, a Lake in the Hills business that was preparing to host a ...
| 
| | NATIONAL Drag news, HIV-bias lawsuit, Disney, Brittney Griner, gay dancer 2023-08-04
- Swastika flag-toting neo-Nazis, some of them armed, were at a Wisconsin LGBTQ+ Pride celebration that included a drag show, The Advocate reported. Members of the neo-Nazi extremist group Blood Tribe joined other right-wing hate groups, like ...
|
| | Dancer O'Shae Sibley murdered amid rising violence against LGBTQs; GLAAD highlights trend 2023-08-01
--From a press release - At least five LGBTQ people have been murdered in recent weeks, following a dramatic spike in anti-LGBTQ hate and harassment during Pride month. GLAAD: "[O'Shae] Sibley's shocking murder follows a disturbing rise in violence and harassment ...
| 
| | Baseball team cuts player who defends anti-LGBTQ+ post 2023-07-05
- Last month, the Toronto Blue Jays cut pitcher Anthony Bass after he said he didn't think an anti-LGBTQ+ social media post he shared last month was hateful, NBC News noted. The move happened hours before Bass ...
| 
| | Prime Minister Trudeau condemns Canadian university stabbings 2023-07-01
- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the June 28 stabbings of a professor and two students in a gender-studies class at the University of Waterloo after police revealed the motive was hate-related, calling it "heinous violence," ...
| 
| | Oregon man pleads guilty to Idaho hate-crime charges 2023-06-16
- On June 15, an Oregon man pled guilty to being charged with two federal hate crimes that took place in Boise, Idaho, per a U.S. Department of Justice release. According to court records, on Oct. 8, ...
| 
| | Toronto baseball player claims anti-LGBTQIA+ post wasn't hateful 2023-06-09
- Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass said on June 8 he doesn't believe an anti-LGBTQIA+ social-media post he shared last month was hateful, ESPN reported. "I do not [believe it was hateful]," Bass said. "That's why ...
| 
| | Billy Masters: Darren Hayes is bummed out 2023-05-01
- "Don't fuck it up!" —Glenn Close's bit of advice over the Paramount+ series based on "Fatal Attraction". Darren Hayes has a nice bum. I hate to start in such a coarse way—not that I have firsthand ...
| 
| | HRC condemns North Dakota House for latest "Slate of Hate" targeting trans, non-binary people 2023-02-22
--From a press release - Bismarck, ND - Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) civil rights organization, denounced members of the North Dakota House for ...
| 
| | Des Plaines Theater cancels anti-LGBTQ hate group event after outcry from citizens 2023-01-20
- DuPage County-based Awake Illinois was set to hold an event called "Out of the Echo Chamber: Coalition for Kids" at the city-owned, but not city-operated, Des Plaines Theatre Wednesday, Feb. 8. This event has now been ...
| 
| | In memoriam: LGBTQ community obituaries 2022 2022-12-27
- The LGBTQ community lost many members in 2022, including at least 35 people in incidents of hate violence against individual transgender people and against patrons of the Club Q bar in Colorado. Here are other memorable ...
|
| | LGBTs nine times more likely than non-LGBTe to be victims of violent hate crimes 2022-12-21
-- From a Williams Institute press release - About one out of 10 violent victimizations against LGBT people are hate crimes, according to a new study by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law. LGBT people are nine times more likely than non-LGBT ...
| 
| | Report released on online hate and gender-affirming providers 2022-12-16
- The Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRC Foundation) has released "Online Harassment, Offline Violence: Unchecked Harassment of Gender-Affirming Care Providers and Children's Hospitals on Social Media, and its Offline Violent Consequences." ...
| | |
|
|
|
|
|
 | SHOWBIZ Outfest, Halo, 'Sex Education,' trans singer, 'Doctor Who'
| | NATIONAL Bisexual politicians, DADT, NBJC awards, crimes, Buttigieg
| | WORLD African efforts, HIV in Amsterdam, Donatella Versace, 'The Queen in Me'
| | MUSIC Former 'Idol' finalist Jim Verraros on his new song, Chicago and Kelly Clarkson
| | Support group for LGBT widows and widowers unites members in grief | |
|
|
|
|
