On Sunday evening an individual was arrested for criminal damage to property and a news release regarding the incident was disseminated. Following the news release there has been concern expressed from the LGBTQ community and others regarding the misgendering and deadnaming of the individual who was arrested. Specifically, those concerns include information that the individual is, and/or identifies as, a transgender female with a different name.
Subsequently, an internal review was conducted and has determined that the individual arrested provided only one name at the time of arrest, along with specific personal identifiers associated with that name. The name provided, Thomas Shane Bruefach, matches national law enforcement database records and is the name included in the original news release. At no time during police custody did the arrestee acknowledge to the Carbondale Police Department that they were transgender or preferred being called by another name. Although we are not aware of any other legally registered name, we are certainly willing to include or correct any information which was previously provided, but that personal information would have to be provided by the person arrested.
We value the relationships we have with our residents and all of our community groups, including our LGBTQ community. We remain committed to working with, and will continue to support the rights of all of those who are a part of our diverse community.