Following the Benjamin Smith shooting spree last year, Cook County's State's Attorney Richard Devine announced a Hate Crimes Plan to significantly boost the resources devoted to the victims of hate crimes and the communities targeted by these hate crimes. Even though the shooting had targeted people of different races and not of sexual orientation specifically, Devine's plan was intended for all victims of hate crimes and included assistance with civil legal matters and the court process as well as support group services and referrals for social services.
This announcement had come shortly after Devine had named Vernita Gray as the state's attorney's liaison to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community. Gray had been with state's attorney's office for six years prior as the GLBT hate-crimes specialist for the Victim-Witness Assistance Unit, a program developed to enhance prosecution efforts by delivering the highest quality of services to victims and witnesses in the areas of advocacy and court support.
Continuing his stride, on June 1, 2000, Devine held a press conference announcing his plan for Anti-GLBT Crime Prevention Training for bar owners, managers and their staff serving the GLBT community. The Cook County State's Attorney's office has teamed up with Horizons Community Services, Northalsted Area Merchants Association, Central Lakeview Merchants Association, Lakeview Action Coalition and the City of Chicago's Office of Violence Prevention to sponsor this training program that will focus on areas of concern such as hate crimes as well as domestic violence.
Vernita Gray, as well as others from the State's Attorney's office, were present to lend their support to this new and substantive endeavor. Although the Cook County State's Attorney's office has conducted training programs for the GLBT community, this will be the first program targeting business owners that service the GLBT community. The press conference was held at the Chicago Area Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce office on Halsted.
The Cook County State's Attorney's office has long been a strong pilot in the fight against hate crimes. Last summer Devine announced internal changes to the prosecution process, which allowed hate-crimes prosecutions, originally prosecuted individually, to be grouped together and moved under the auspices of the Community Prosecutions Unit. Devine also called for the strengthening of state hate-crime laws by clarifying the definition of when a hate crime occurs and placing the focus on the offender's motivation and bias, rather than the victim's status. The changes also included a plan to train law enforcement officers with emphasis on proper report writing and evidence collection procedures.
The county's Anti-GLBT Crime Prevention Training will instruct business owners, managers and their staff catering to the GLBT community on various aspects of crime prevention and what to do if they suspect a situation is leading to a crime. This will include training on how to spot domestic-violence situations. This training will take place Wednesday, June 14, at Horizons Community Services, 961 W. Montana in Chicago between the hours of 1-3 p.m. For information, or to reserve a seat, call the Cook County State's Attorney: ( 312 ) 603-7952.