SEATTLE — King County released a recent report detailing a plan to establish a hate crime reporting hotline.
The detailed report laid out a roadmap to establishing a Stop Hate Hotline, which experts said is needed as the number of hate crimes increases.
Last week, windows were smashed with a sledgehammer at the Wing Luke Museum in the heart of the Chinatown International District while a man yelled racial slurs. Craig Milne was arrested and charged with a hate crime and malicious mischief.
The latest case highlights a growing problem.
“Unfortunately, we've seen in King County that we are not immune to hate and prejudice that seems to be growing across the United States,” said Miri Cypers, director of the Anti-Defamation League for the Pacific Northwest.
Cypers said hate crimes have reached a 20-year high nationwide, and continue to increase year over year despite being the most under-reported crime.
“We know that this is just the tip of the iceberg, and because reporting is quite low, there's so much out there that we have yet to learn and so many victims we have yet to support,” Cypers said.
A survey done by the King County Coalition Against Hate and Bias showed there were 643 incidents of hate and bias between 2020 and Aug. 10, 2023. The survey showed that 84% of respondents chose not to go to the police.
That's why King County Councilmember Reagan Dunn proposed a hate crime hotline last year to provide a community-based reporting option. A recent 59-page report detailed how to make that happen.
The hotline will allow people to report incidents of hate over the phone or online in multiple languages. It would work with an outside provider experienced in trauma-informed care and cultural competence. King County's plan is based off of similar hotlines in Oregon and California.
“I think a hotline is a really big game changer because I think it focuses on the immediacy of the problem and it invests in the people behind the issue, the victims and their communities. There can be cultural or linguistic barriers, immigration status can make people really reluctant to report crimes to authorities. Sometimes people are just also ashamed or embarrassed,” Cypers said.
Cypers hopes King County’s plan will come to fruition and turn into a statewide hotline.
“We are often ranked as one of the highest states that experiences the highest number of hate crimes in the US per capita. In total, we have more hate crimes here than are recorded in Texas. We have a really big problem with this issue,” Cypers said.
The county’s budget constraints show how implementing the hotline may be an issue of funding.
According to the report, the initial cost estimate for establishing the hotline is between $408,000 and $659,000 with projected yearly expenses of between $663,000 and $724,000.
The next step is for King County Executive Dow Constantine to consider the fall 2023-2024 supplemental budget plan.
“We're really hoping that King County will invest in this really important life-saving measure, but also that everybody in Washington state can also be afforded the same services as well,” Cypers said.
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