As police continue investigating the anti-gay attacks alleged to have occurred on South Goodman Street on June 1, the Gay Alliance is working for change.

The Alliance has begun organizing a community-response group to create strategies to respond to hate crimes and other bias-related activities. It would also make recommendations to the Alliance about law-enforcement response. The Alliance reached out to the leaders of a June 26 march to start a continuing effort to respond to bias activities.

"It goes far beyond the Goodman Street incident," says Kris Hinesley, executive director of the Alliance.

Rochester police have said they have interviewed suspects in the June 1 incidents, and the police department has also begun an internal investigation into the conduct of officers who responded to calls about the alleged attacks. The FBI is also investigating the officers' conduct.

Shortly after media reports about the alleged attacks, the Gay Alliance convened a community forum. About 200 people attended, and many said they had been victims of bias activity themselves, says Hinesley.

To get a better picture of how often bias activity occurs, Hinesley wants the police department to track bias crimes against the LGBT community as a separate category. That would let the department and the Gay Alliance compare data, she says.

Leaders of the Gay Alliance have suspected that there have been more anti-gay activities than police data have shown, she says, "and I think that the community forum reinforced that."

The alleged attacks in June also showed that further training for officers is needed, says Hinesley. It's encouraging that Police Chief David Moore has committed to expanded training for officers, she says, particularly related to bias. But Hinesley says the department should also give its LGBT liaison, an officer specifically assigned to work with the LGBT community, more time to work in that capacity.

It's important for victims to report crimes when they happen, says Hinesley, so it's important for the Alliance to work with the city to create a system that embraces, not intimidates, the LGBT community.