Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has condemned a Gainesville Police Department policy that required officers to ask transgender-identifying suspects to select the gender of an officer for search purposes.
The rule, which stated that if an officer could not determine a suspect’s gender during a search, they should request the suspect choose the gender of the officer conducting the search, was found by Uthmeier to violate Florida law. In a letter sent to city officials in late July, he wrote: “This policy serves no legitimate law enforcement purpose, endangers officers and detainees, and violates Florida law.”
Uthmeier also accused the police department of prioritizing “gender ideology over officer and detainee safety” and criticized the rule for imposing “asymmetric burdens on females based on gender identity,” stating it “subordinates biology to ideology” and jeopardizes the safety and wellbeing of both officers and detainees.
The Gainesville Police Chief agreed to rescind the policy two days before the deadline set by Uthmeier’s public challenge.
