GLOV Trainings Grow
Former co-chairs establish training protocol for GLLU
Joe Montoni and Kelly Pickard stepped up in the community as co-chairs of Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence in January 2010. Hassan Naveed and A.J. Singletary may have taken over those reins at the beginning of 2011, but Montoni and Pickard’s role with GLOV has remained just as crucial. Today, they’re heading the GLOV Law Enforcement Committee, responsible for training those GLOV volunteers who will in turn help train members of the Metropolitan Police Department who volunteer to undergo training for MPD’s Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit (GLLU).
In its current state, the GLLU, one of four MPD Special Liaison Units, is no longer a cadre of dedicated officers, but rather a level of training for which MPD officers may volunteer. That training is provided by a number of community groups, including GLOV, a program of the The Center, D.C.’s LGBT community center.
”The training is roughly two hours long,” Montoni says of the GLOV volunteer training, the next of which is Aug. 7. ”Kelly and I basically walk through each of the four segments of the training we’ve developed.”
Those four segments are defining a hate crime, understanding the problems of hate crimes in the District, community strategies, and the impact of such crimes on the victims.
”We’ve refined it over the course of the last two years,” says Montoni. ”We’re definitely proud of the product and we’re hopeful it’s useful.”
He adds that while the 12 spaces for the upcoming training have been filled, anyone interested should contact GLOV, as the training effort will be ongoing.
”It’s for anyone who has an interest in LGBTQ safety issues, who is comfortable speaking in public. Typically, you’d present to 25-30 law-enforcement officials with varying levels of knowledge of the gay community in D.C.”
For more information about the GLOV trainings, call The Center at 202-682-2245 or visit GLOV at glovdc.org.
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