LGBT Advisory Group: Policing Watchdog for LGBT people in London

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Drugs and Alcohol Review

The review found that patterns of drug and alcohol use amongst lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender individuals in London was different from those seen in national population based studies, and hence there was a distinct need for a different approach in tackling the challenge of drugs and alcohol misuse in this community.

Drug and alcohol misuse reflected other LGBT studies, in being higher amongst gay men than the general population
There was a general lack of awareness of any LGBT targeted or accessible support services.
Most respondents who used drugs did so at home and purchased them at home.

The review therefore made a range of key recommendations including the Metropolitan Police raising the profile of LGBT targeted and accessible support services, raising the profile of LGBT liaison officers, working with partners such as NHS London and the London Ambulance services to tackle overdose in club settings and developing a regional strategy targeting drug and alcohol misuse amongst the LGBT community.

[ Full Report ]

Police Community Meeting on the Death of Tony Hoare

The Greenwich police is holding a public meeting on the investigation into the death of Tony Hoare, the managing director of Stormbreak, a market research consultancy specialising in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

The meeting will take place at the Metro Centre in Greenwich, starting at 7pm on Monday 15th October. The homicide investigation team and the Greenwich borough police will be available to give updates and answer questions arising from the case.

Tony Hoare was attacked and killed in Charlton Park in south London on 11th September 2007. One man has been arrested and charged with manslaughter. Two other men were arrested and have been released on bail. While there is no initial evidence that this was a homophobic attack, the police have committed to a thorough investigation of all possibilities. The LGBT Advisory Group is working closely with the investigation team offering independent advice on LGBT issues.

The Metro Centre is located at Unit 401, 49 Greenwich High Rd, SE10 8JL. Tel: 020 8265 3311.

[ previous press release ]

Police urged to learn lessons from LGBT murders

Report launch: 15 May 2007

The Advisory Group is urging the police to learn from past mistakes in the investigation and prevention of the murders of gay and transgender people.

We have completed a review on 10 homophobic and transphobic murders in London from 1990 to 2002. We find that, whereas the investigation of LGBT related murders has improved dramatically over the last 20 years, there are still many lessons to learn in preventing these violent crimes against LGBT people.
[ See full press release ]

The complete review is available in PDF format.

Please send email to murderreview@lgbtag.org.uk for further information.

Drugs arrests in Vauxhall club

Police arrested and charged 5 men with dealing drugs at the Vauxhall club 'Fire' in the early hours of Saturday 28th April 2007. The raid was the result of an intelligence-led operation which revealed serious levels of drug dealing. It was not the aim of the operation to arrest customers with drugs for their own use.

All customers were asked to leave the club. There has been some concern that the police used CCTV camera to film all the customers at the exit. The police have stated that the images may be used in court as evidence. The Advisory Group has received assurances from the police that any images of customers will be blanked out and the material will be destroyed afterwards. If you find that these assurances are not kept, please contact us or Galop immediately.

The LGBT Liaison Officers in Lambeth and the LGBT Advisory Group were informed of the raid after it had taken place. We are reviewing the operation to give advice on how to improve the conduct of future operations.

There has been 3 deaths following drug use at the venue in the last few months. The club will be closed until 21 May. When it reopens, it will be subject to additional licensing conditions agreed between the police and the club's management.

Clapham Common Authority Promise to Fight Homophobia

The local authority in charge of Clapham Common, where gay barman Jody Dobrowski was murdered in a homophobic attack, has promised to create a safer area.

Thomas Pickford, 25, and Scott Walker, 33, both of no fixed address were sentenced to life in prison after earlier admitted killing Mr Dobrowski in October 2005

Councillor Mark Bennett, Cabinet Member for Community Safety at Lambeth Council, said: “Lambeth Council sends sympathies to the family of Jody Dobrowski at this difficult time. But we know that in case like this, sympathy must backed up with action

“This murder was a despicable crime that has shocked everybody in Lambeth, a borough known for its commitment to tolerance and diversity, fostered over many years."

Today we send out the message that hate crime of any kind should never be tolerated, whether the motive is one of race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. Individuals like Pickford and Walker have no place in Lambeth. Their sentence reflects the evil of any hate crime.

“We greatly value the role our LGBT communities play in the life of this borough. An example of this is that we jointly fund an LGBT co-ordinator as part of the Safer Lambeth Partnership, and we work closely with the police and the community to help make sure victims of hate crime can speak to the police with confidence

“The Council has recently finished a piece of research into the needs and experiences of LGBT people who live, work, and socialise in Lambeth. We will publish the results shortly, working closely with the LGBT communities and LGBT businesses to take forward the recommendations and findings of the report

“We are also working on a new hate crime strategy to ensure we are able to look at this important issue in a more focused and forward-thinking way than previously.

“We can best remember Jody Dobrowksi, and David Morley, by creating a Lambeth where people feel safer, where they can report trouble without fear and where they know they will be supported by strong and fair services.”

Mr Dobrowski, 24, assistant manager at Bar Risa Jongleurs, in Camden, was found unconscious in south London last year and died in hospital with head, neck and facial injuries. Back to Top

Notice From the Police regarding 'counter terrorist' raid on 22nd June 2006

The following briefing is to inform police community partners about the counter-terrorist raid that took place on Friday 2^nd June. The briefing is issued in response to advice received from a number of bodies, including the Community Consultation Group that is assisting the police service to deal with possible consequences of the operation.

Briefing. Friday’s operation was conducted in response to very specific and new intelligence. The intelligence required the police service to respond – doing nothing with intelligence of this nature is simply not an option.

It is imperative that we prove or disprove this intelligence. All of our activity in connection with this operation is undertaken with this objective.

The operation at the premises continues and is likely to take several days to complete because of its thorough nature. We have removed material and property, including computers, for examination and investigation.

There is, of course, much other investigative activity and partners should not assume that the result of the search is the only factor bearing on the resolution of this matter.

Prior to undertaking the operation a careful planning process took place, including risk assessment and community impact assessment – these are vital parts of an operation of this sort. This type of planning is followed for all major police operations.

Highly trained, highly skilled firearms officers entered both premises. A larger number of unarmed officers in uniform secured cordons in the area. Their role was to ensure public safety, manage road closures and give advice and guidance to the public who may have been upset or disturbed by the operation.

It was necessary to evacuate a small number of residents for safety reasons.Memories of an anti-terrorism search that had a tragic outcome are still strong – safety of the public and our officers is a priority.

The shooting that took place is, of course a cause of concern to us and we are supporting the IPCC investigation to establish what happened. This investigation is independent of the police and will establish the facts.

There has been speculation that the IPCC investigation held up the counter-terrorist investigation. This is not the case.

As it is not our investigation, we cannot comment further about the shooting.
This case highlights the dilemma facing the police service. We have an absolute duty to protect public safety and to prove or disprove intelligence received.

We are obliged to protect the public from the risk of terrorism. We are constantly making decisions on intelligence and public safety is always our primary concern.

If, in the future, we receive intelligence suggesting a danger to the public, we will take steps to ensure public safety.

The Metropolitan Police are working very closely with the local community in Newham to minimise disruption and ensure the community is kept informed and any concerns they may have are addressed.

Safer Neighbourhood teams have been doing extra reassurance patrols in the area and at key community locations in the borough. Regular meetings are being held with community representatives both locally, pan London and nationally. This is being complemented with regular community bulletins where any updated information is distributed to interested community members.

Leaflets have been distributed in the Newham area to explain the police operation and to publicise a Metropolitan Police community hotline. Anyone who would like to report any community concerns can contact the hotline at anytime on:
Telephone 0800 028 2390
Minicom 0800 0286522
Web www.met.police.uk/communities_together/ Back to Top