He's looking at steps to make the police force fully hospitable to out gay and lesbian officers and is planning a specialized unit to serve the city's LGBT community. There's a long article in the Inquirer today by Gail Shister.

"My goal is to create an environment where officers don't feel intimidated in any way," Ramsey said in a recent interview. "If they want to acknowledge [their sexuality], they should feel comfortable doing it." ....

Over the next two to three years, Ramsey hopes to have all police employees take gay-sensitivity training. Currently, only new recruits do.

The commissioner insists there is zero tolerance for any kind of discrimination in his department of 6,700. He also acknowledges that unless the culture changes, gay men and lesbians will continue to be reluctant to become police officers.

"What people do in their personal lives is not important. . . . I just want good cops," Ramsey said.

And on the idea of a special unit:

Ramsey is considering launching a full-time unit dedicated to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

Modeled on the pioneering, award-winning detachment he created in Washington in 2000, it would include two or three officers and a base in Center City's "gayborhood," roughly bounded by 11th, Broad, Chestnut and Pine Streets.

Many say such a unit would improve the under-reporting of hate crimes and domestic disturbances by the city's LGBT residents.

"They don't have faith that the police will do something," Ramsey says. "We want to make sure they feel comfortable telling us about any issue that needs to be addressed. . . . We need to be very sensitive to that."

Ramsey is also considering new liaison units for Asians and Hispanics.

The quote from Ramsey is particularly heartening: it shows an awareness of the depth and extent of the problems caused by a police force that has not historically dealt well with gay crime victims or suspects (ranging from direct abuse to corrosive insensitivity).