PEORIA — What has your experience with law enforcement been like?
If you live in Peoria County, Peoria Proud wants to know. The nonprofit is offering a survey asking Peoria County residents to chime in about their experiences with police.
“We saw a need to build better relations,” says Rin Parker, below left, an at-large board member of the group that coordinates River City Pride July 19 and dozens more events throughout the year. “Just finding out what people are feeling will help build better relations.”
Parker said the survey is especially meaningful to him as someone who is transgender, a person of color, queer and also experienced unsettling encounters with police as a youth. Those encounters include a neighbor’s call for a welfare check, during which the responding officers were “judgy” instead of “comforting, Parker said.
“I do struggle with being around police officers as a queer person of color,” he said. “I have not had the greatest interactions with police officers.”
The experience of preparing and conducting the survey has helped “bridge that disconnect,” Parker said.
Local and historical context for Peoria Proud’s law enforcement survey
Overall, say Parker and fellow at-large board member River Russell, their experiences with Peoria area law enforcement have been positive. Russell (above right) said last year, members of the Peoria Police Department were present at River City Pride and were “there for us” with respect.
In addition, the department has undertaken sensitivity efforts for other challenged identities, including those with autism.
But historical happenings and a lack of more visible LGBTQ+ officers on the force can lead to suspicion, he said. “Even if (people) haven’t had a bad experience with police, some things can lead to an overall negative attitude toward the police force.”
The topic of police and Pride can be a heated one — partly because the Stonewall Uprising of 1969 that inspired Pride Month was a reaction to ongoing police brutality in New York City.
Because the Stonewall Inn where raids occurred was a hangout for not only LGBTQ+ people but also People of Color, sex workers and the homeless, questions about Pride and police resonate with many challenged identities.
Some prides, including the Des Moines People’s Pride in Iowa, ban police from being present because of that history.
In addition, The Conversation reported that one-fifth of LGBTQ+ people who had encounters with police experienced “hostile attitudes” from officers.
Black and Hispanic people are up to three times as likely to be stopped, arrested, and killed by police, according to the Sentencing Project.
Access the anonymous survey here; it’s likely to be open for responses through August, Parker said.
