`Invisible minorities'
| Date | 01 November 2007 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1748895807082065 |
| Published date | 01 November 2007 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Criminology & Criminal Justice
© 2007 SAGE Publications
(Los Angeles, London, New Delhi and Singapore)
and the British Society of Criminology.
www.sagepublications.com
ISSN 1748–8958; Vol: 7(4): 417–441
DOI: 10.1177/1748895807082065
417
‘Invisible minorities’:
Challenging community and neighbourhood models of
policing
LESLIE J. MORAN
Birkbeck College, UK
Abstract
This article explores challenges that non-normative sexualities,
in particular ‘lesbian’ and ‘gay’ generate for ‘community’ and
‘neighbourhood’ models and practices of policing. It pursues this
objective by way of a series of reflections arising out of a number of
encounters with lesbians and gay men, the police, policy makers
and activists all of whom have been involved in an ongoing project
of generating debate, building policies and changing the day-to-day
operation of policing in England and Wales. These encounters
occurred over a five-year period in several different geographical
and institutional locations. The article concludes with a critique of
two themes that connect these incidents: the use of the ‘minority
model’ lesbian and gay community and the use of ‘stranger danger’
as the model of homophobic violence to explain that community’s
distinctive experience of violence.
Key Words
lesbian and gay • minority community • policing • post-identity
• stranger danger
Introduction
This article explores the challenges that non-normative sexualities, in particu-
lar ‘lesbian’ and ‘gay’1generate for ‘community’ and ‘neighbourhood’ models
and practices of policing. It pursues this objective by way of a series of
417-442 CRJ-082065.qxd 4/10/07 1:57 PM Page 417
reflections arising out of a number of encounters with lesbians and gay men,
the police, policy makers and activists all of whom have been involved in an
ongoing project of generating debate, building policies and changing the day-
to-day operation of policing in England and Wales. These encounters occurred
over a five-year period in several different geographical and institutional
locations.2The first incident I want to reflect upon is the experience of con-
ducting two citizens’ inquires in 2000. These were undertaken in two loca-
tions, Lancaster and Manchester that are little more than 50 miles apart.
The inquiries were part of a funded research project. Lesbians and gay men
came together with other individuals (policy makers, senior administrators,
the police, politicians, activists) that they had identified as local ‘key inform-
ants’ to discuss criminal justice and policing issues relating to homophobic vio-
lence and safety. The next three encounters all occurred between 2000 and
2006 in the context of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Advisory
Group (LGBT AG) of the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS). The first relates
to the ongoing dialogue about the establishment and operation of LGBT li-
aison officers in the MPS. The second arises out of participation in meetings in
2005 with the MPS relating to the development of their ‘Safer Neighbourhood’
initiative. The third focuses upon the use of police data about homophobic
violence in various police settings where police experiences and perceptions of
homophobic violence and policing strategies were under discussion. My last
example draws upon experiences of working in a voluntary capacity with
GALOP, a London-based LGBT anti-violence and police monitoring charity
in 2004. GALOP was commissioned by the crime and disorder partnerships
of two south London boroughs, Bexley and Greenwich, to undertake research
on LGBT experiences of homophobic violence that had the objective of bridg-
ing a perceived gap between police and community data relating to those
experiences. My reflection is based upon a series of encounters with members
of the crime and disorder partnership that arose out of undertaking a victim
survey of LGBT people. Drawing on all of these experiences I offer an analy-
sis of the challenges that the formation and institutionalization of the sexual
subject/citizen may raise for community and neighbourhood models of po-
licing. I consider the insights and lessons that can be drawn from these various
incidents and experiences involving encounters between ‘invisible minorities’
and policing.
Lancaster and Manchester citizens’ inquiries 2000
The Lancaster and Manchester citizens’ inquiries3were undertaken as part of
an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded research project:
Violence, Sexuality and Space.4The project was an interdisciplinary study of
how sustainable ‘safe’ ‘public’ spaces are created in response to homophobic
violence, exploring personal, community, commercial and institutional
responses to threatened and actual violence.5The research team began gath-
ering data in May 1998 using four different methods: surveys; structured
Criminology & Criminal Justice 7(4)
418
417-442 CRJ-082065.qxd 4/10/07 1:57 PM Page 418
To continue reading
Request your trial