Thomas McLaughlin, a Lakewood, Oh., detective, is in hot water after loudly playing Aerosmith's "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)" and the Kinks' "Lola" while a trans woman was in the police station being booked for shoplifting, reports independent news site Raw Story.
The officer, a 23-year veteran of the force, has received a verbal reprimand and order for sensitivity training after the suspect, trans woman and local women's shelter resident Robin Adelmann, filed a formal complaint with the Lakewood Police Department about her treatment the morning after the December 21, 2014 incident.
She described the experience in detail to Celevand news site CleveScene, saying the arresting officers treated her politely and detained her in a female block, but that once she sat down in the police station, McLaughlin started blasting songs that reference trans women in a way meant to mock her.
"I look at the detective [questioning me] and I'm like, 'You know why he's doing that, right?' And the detective was like, 'Hey, what can ya do?'" she recalled. When "Lola" began to play, Adelmann says that the detective interviewing her got up and asked McLaughlin to stop. "Hey, it's a good song!" Adelmann says she heard McLaughlin reply.
"['Dude (Looks Like a Lady)] is like the bane of our existence," Adelmann went on to explain to CleveScene, saying this wasn't the first time she'd heard it played derogatorily. "I've been in bars when guys have seen me and gone up to the jukebox and played that fucking song. ... I hear that kind of stuff on the street every single day, no matter what. So when I heard it from a professional police officer who is supposed to protect us, it was just too much."
Lakewood Police Chief Tim Malley, who launched the internal investigation that resulted in McLaughlin being disciplined, said the ordeal has reflected poorly on his police deparment, and he is considering department-wide LGBT SafeZone sensitivity training.
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