BC cop gets hate crime training

A Boston College Police Department officer participated in special hate crime training presented by the New England Region of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) last Wednesday. Sgt. Joe Desmond represented the BCPD at the session.

"The session included standard training, including the basic definitions, what hate crimes mean, and the effect they have on the community," said Dan Navisky, assistant director of the ADL's New England regional office.

Beyond this standard training, Navisky said that the program was fitted to the unique situations created on college campuses. "We feel that campus communities are a real microcosm of the outside world," he said. "When a hate crime is committed, the effect on the campus community is much more strongly felt. We want to provide college law enforcement with the tools to handle a close knit environment."

Part of the training program dealt with the line between student activism and intimidation. It also dealt with specific problems, such as a campus group sponsoring a controversial speaker. The goal was to provide officers with tools to ensure that campus groups have an opportunity to express their views in a safe but free way.

"The challenge for college police is to protect the community, but also to provide a safe and comfortable environment to express views," said Navisky.

The training included a panel discussion featuring Lt. Mike Assad of the MIT Police Department; Rabbi Jeffery Summit, executive director of Hillel at Tufts University; Whitney Montgomery, education chair of the Northeastern University chapter of NAACP; and Robert Leikind, ADL executive director.

According to the ADL's website, its hate crime training program for law enforcement addresses issues regarding hate crime identification, as well as issues relevant to the counseling of hate crime victims. The goals of the program include discussion of the special nature of hate violence and its relationship to anti-bias education. Navisky said that 65 to 70 officers representing more than 15 different departments took part in the hate crime training.

Desmond was not available to comment on his training experience. Lt. Margaret Connolly said that Desmond gave her feedback on the ADL session.

"Sgt. Desmond thought it was excellent," said Connolly. "His only complaint was that he felt it could have been a little longer. All in all, though, he definitely recommended it."

Connolly said that due to last minute scheduling, the BCPD was only able to send one officer. She also said that the BCPD would be interested in the ADL bringing their hate crime program to the BC campus, and opening it up not only to law enforcement, but also to various student groups on campus. While no concrete plans have yet been made, officials at the ADL expressed an interest in coming to BC to promote hate crime awareness.