Thought it might be useful to disclose I am Police Officer with 19 years service - on an informal and non-official basis I am happy to discuss matters of Policing and Criminal Law (to the best of my ability). Maybe I can dispel a few myths and rumours....

Em

xxx

Indeed...I'll see if there's any material from work that I can post up or link to. 

Good for you Emma - I work closely with the Devon and Cornwall Police authority on their IAG and LRG committees and I know that there are many caring and enlightened officers working there who really want to help put a stop to transphobic hate crime and help our community.

Attitudes within the police force have changed dramatically within the last few years, but unfortunately there are still some authorities that have not taken on this challenge (yet) and it is up to people in those areas to involve themselves with the police for it is only that way that we can help them be better.  It is all too easy to sit back and moan that "the police are my enemies" like one person did to me in a Facebook group recently, then when I challenged her to get involved she retorted that she had attended an IAG meeting once, but she found it useless.  She expected that they would change after just one meeting, when in reality it does take a long time to bring about real change.

Carol xx

PS
IAG = Independent Advisory Group (all police authority areas have them)
LRG = Local Reference Group