San Francisco officials recently announced a new response protocol to hate incidents in the city, making it easier for victims to find much-needed support.
The effort, which was shared on Thursday and comes on the heels of multiple mass shootings in California, provides multilingual resources to victims, helping them report crimes faster and navigate the legal system more conveniently.
The languages reportedly include Cantonese, Mandarin and Tagalog. For its part, the city police already has over 100 officers who speak Cantonese, 20 who speak Mandarin and another 20 who speak Tagalog.
It includes advice on filing a police report, information on receiving support during the court process and access to community organizations and counseling services.
San Francisco saw a 567% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in 2021 compared to the previous year.
Police Chief William Scott said there was a “significant decrease” in 2022, but figures were not immediately available.
Our different agencies who support not only criminal justice reform, who support pushing to prevent crimes in the first place, we also support that after those lines are crossed that there is a coordinated response to get to the bottom of the situation, so people are held accountable, and victims feel as though justice was served and they get the supportive services they need to feel safe in San Francisco.
City Attorney David Chiu was also present at the conference. In a statement, he said the city is working hard to address the problems:
Over the last several years, our API [Asian Pacific Islander] communities have dealt with tremendous levels of loss, hate and violence directed at us. These incidents are inexcusable and have no place in San Francisco. I am grateful to our community partners for identifying ways to improve our city’s response to hate incidents, and appreciate the collaboration that has led to new policies implemented by Mayor Breed, District Attorney Jenkins, and Police Chief Scott. The city is working hard to demonstrate our commitment to supporting and lifting up victims and survivors of hate.
