Michigan State Police adds gender identity hate crime category
The Michigan State Police (MSP) has added a hate crimes category for attacks against people based on their gender identity, department spokeswoman Shanon Banner confirmed Tuesday.
Attorney General Dana Nessel praised the decision — which went unannounced by the State Police itself — in a statement last Friday. According to Nessel’s office, the MSP added gender identity to the list of hate crimes in April.
The attorney general’s press release states that the change brings Michigan in line with standards from the FBI, which has tracked gender identity and sexual orientation hate crimes since the adoption of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, according to the FBI.
“The Michigan State Police is taking an important and necessary action by including gender identity as a hate crime category in its crime reporting,” Nessel said in a statement. “This added requirement goes a long way toward providing a voice to a community that has long been silenced, overlooked and degraded.
Read more: https://www.michiganadvance.com/2019/07/09/michigan-state-police-adds-gender-identity-hate-crime-category/
