Gays; Police Meeting “Positive”

A coalition of gay and lesbian leaders met with city officials in an attempt to improve relations between the homosexual community and the Indianapolis Police Department and to help solve a string of murders of homosexuals. Six representatives of the Indianapolis Gay Lesbian Coalition met for more than an hour yesterday with representatives of IPD, the Department of Public Safety and the mayor’s office.

In a news conference afterwards, members of the coalition described the meeting as “positive” and said the discussions had included talks of at least 24 unsolved murders in the homosexual community since 1976. “We want the murderers caught as much as anyone else does,” said Stanley Berg, a member of the coalition and publisher of the Works, a gay news magazine. “But we intend to work with the police department not only in this area, but in many other areas as well.”

Members of the coalition said their group was formed in reaction to press coverage of several of the murders, particularly the October killing of Delvoyd Baker, 14, whose body was found in a ditch in Hamilton County. That press coverage may have prompted police patrols in homosexual hangouts in downtown Indianapolis that served to “scare away possible witnesses in the case,” one member of the coalition said. Police also were accused of harassment in some cases, as well as being insensitive to the needs of the homosexual community by revealing the name of anyone who came to the police with information.

“We see prostitution as being a criminal act just as many other people do,” said Mary Byrne, owner of Labyris, a women’s night club. “We see the murders as being particular deviant behavior.” Ms. Byrne said the last four murder victims involved male hustlers who “were out there for the money and would have gone off with a woman if she had asked them to.” The coalition presented the city, officials with seven recommendations to improve relations between IPD and the gay community.

The recommendations include an education program for police officers and staff on gay issues, an affirmative policy statement concerning the treatment of gays by IPD and establishment of a liaison within IPD to work with the gay community. The coalition agreed to publish the pictures of the last eight murder victims in the Works.

 “This may alert people who may know the victims or who may have seen them prior to the killings,” said Berg. The monthly magazine has a circulation of about 6,000 in Indiana, he added. The coalition also may release the pictures to the National Gay Press Service, which has a nationwide distribution. Public Safety Director Richard Blankenbaker said the meeting “opened the door to better communication between gays and the Department of Public Safety.

“We feel we can resolve our problems much quicker and more effectively than we have in the past (with the two groups working together),” Blankenbaker said. “I feel good about the meeting and will encourage meetings in the future.” He added that his department will review the coalition’s recommendations. The Indianapolis Gay Lesbian Coalition represents 14 social, political, business, educational and religious organizations in Indianapolis.