Metropolitan Police guidelines Advice for officers dealing with transsexuals and transvestites 1995 Foreword Guidelines Foreword The Metropolitan Police Service, covering Greater London, was one of the first police forces in the UK to adopt a set of guidelines for its officers in their dealings with trans people. The guidelines are presented here in the draft form in which they were circulated, and some minor revisions to the wording were made before the document was adopted in late 1995. See also the Home Office's written answer to a Parliamentary question by SNP Home Affairs spokesperson Roseanna Cunningham in December 1997. We must ensure that we treat them with the same respect and dignity as any other member of the public. We must also recognise that in carrying out some procedures, such as strip searching, there is also a requirement to be sensitive to the dignity of police officers called upon to perform the task.
Definitions Transvestite a person who dresses in the clothes of the opposite sex.
Transsexual a person who has the physical characteristics of one sex, but with certain characteristics of the other sex. Surgery may have taken place and a person may exhibit the features of both sexes. Potentially there is a wide variation in the stage of change from one sex to the other. Nevertheless they should also be borne in mind when dealing with transvestites and transsexual as victims and witnesses. These principles are very broad and cannot cater for every possible circumstance.