Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck spoke at the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center on Jan. 27, telling an audience of about 75 people that his department will focus on establishing stronger ties with the LGBT community.

In a discussion moderated by the Lorri Jean, the center’s chief executive officer, Beck acknowledged the historically rocky relationship between Los Angeles police and LGBTs.

Jean described the LAPD of the 1940s and 1950s as a “bastion of anti-homosexual activity,” including widespread harrassment and entrapment.

Beck said those tactics are long gone, adding that earning the trust of the LGBT community is a priority for the LAPD.

“Building relationships in good times, which I say we are in good times, between the LAPD and this community, building a strong relationship now will help us with issues as the come up,” he said.

Beck said most of that relationship-building will come in the form of training new officers, with a focus on sensitivity, outreach and proper treatment of HIV-positive suspects.

Last December, the department took a major step when it severed longstanding ties with the Boy Scouts of America, which explicitly bans LGBTs from joining its ranks.

Jean commented on progress the LAPD has made in the past decade.

“Over the years, since 1993, we’ve almost always had a gay or lesbian representative on the board of police commissioners, but as it is true in all society, there’s still room for improvement,” she said.

One area that Jean said could use some of that improvement is the LAPD’s interaction with the transgender community.

She described a 2009 incident inolving Toni Scarpa, a transgender female who was approached by an officer who refused to acknowledge that Scarpa was a woman.

“He persisted and loudly and stubbornly continue to address her as sir and it was very publicly humiliating,” Jean said.

Scarpa filed a complaint with the department, whose rejection included Beck’s signature.

Beck apologized to Scarpa at last week’s meeting.

During the question and answer segment of the event, Scarpa asked the chief if the scenario she went through could be prevented from happening again.

Beck said that he could not do much with a complaint if the matter has been closed, but said the best approach to reduce discrimination in the future would be through additional training of officers.

“I can provide training at a level that will ensure that this won’t reoccur,” he said, including sensitivity training that is already in place. “We do have policies that demand respect and demand that all people are treated in a manner that is professional and that does not display prejudice or animosity by the officers.”

One of Beck’s officers who was at the discussion said the LAPD currently employs a transgender officer, whom she declined to identify.

While Jean said there is still room for improvement with the relationship between the LAPD and the LGBT community, she is confident in Beck’s leadership.

“For the last 18 years our chiefs of police have consistently improved when it comes to our community, and I have great hopes that same is true for Chief Beck,” she said.