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UT police to receive transgender awareness training

The training will teach officers about proper LGBTQ vocabulary, hate crimes and gender marker laws.

AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas Police Department will be receiving new training on transgender awareness starting in the spring semester.

The officers will be trained on proper LGBTQ vocabulary, hate crimes and gender marker laws. They will also learn how to be respectful of gender identities.

A detective with the department said he hopes to make the university a more LGBTQ friendly place.

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The training is being developed by UTPD LGBTQIA+ representative Detective David Chambers and is a part of the Campus Pride Index requirements, which aim to make UT more LGBTQ friendly, according to The Daily Texan.

"From what we have heard, when it comes to UTPD, it's usually a pretty positive interaction with the community. But we can always do better," Chambers told KVUE. "So that's what we're striving for, just to better educate our officers on things such as terminology pronouns."

"Whenever law enforcement gets on scene, it's never a good day for anyone. Something's gone wrong while we're there, so anything we can do to help ease the situation, help bridge that connection between the individual and our department," Chambers added. "So I think being able to understand when to use the proper pronouns – and it becomes difficult for us because we, unfortunately, we have to follow maybe what's on their legal document, which may not be what the individual wants to be called. And so, how do you manage that? And what happens when you make a mistake? How do you correct that and move forward with that?"

Chambers said the training would be a two-hour program featuring a PowerPoint presentation, handouts and educational components, according to The Daily Texan.

RELATED: UT Austin police department reorganizes, adds SWAT team

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