Many of our community members are feeling anxious and unsettled due to the growing number of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases. Our lives have changed drastically overnight, as stay at home orders are implemented across the Country. Unfortunately, the negative narrative surrounding this disease has caused fear in our community and anti-hate groups are reporting a modest rise in reports of hate speech and crimes across the world.
While the Fremont Police Department has not received any recent reports of hate crimes, we want to assure our community that we take these matters seriously. We want all community members to feel safe living, working or visiting the City of Fremont. During the COVID-19 shelter-in-place, our patrol operation remains fully staffed, and we continue to respond to all emergency calls.
“Fremont has always been a compassionate city; a place where residents celebrate diversity,” Mayor Lily Mei said. “With the increase in xenophobia and hate crimes in our broader nation stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, I want to send a clear message that we will not tolerate hate in Fremont. I encourage each and every one of our residents to report any incidents you may witness or be a victim of to the Fremont Police Department. Now more than ever before, we need to remain unified as a community and be kind to those around us.”
The Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus, in partnership with the Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council (A3PCON) and other Asian American Pacific Islander civil rights organizations announced the creation of a new reporting center to collect and track incidents of anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander hate, violence, and discrimination, including adult harassment, shunning, and child bullying in California and throughout the country in response to the escalation of xenophobia and bigotry related to COVID-19. The reporting center provides individuals who have been directly impacted by hate or have a firsthand account of an incident of hate an avenue to share their stories online. These organizations are also developing targeted education and media campaigns to provide resources for impacted individuals and to advocate for policies and programs dedicated to curtailing racial profiling. The press release can be viewed in its entirety online. The incident reporting forms are available in English, Chinese, Korean, Thai and Japanese.
The definition of a Hate Crime can be found under 422.55 of the California Penal Code. In summary, a Hate Crime is defined as a criminal act committed, in whole or in part, because of one or more of the following actual or perceived characteristics of the victim: disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation.
The City of Fremont has a downloadable brochure on Hate Crimes available online at: www.Fremont.gov/HateCrime.
If you believe you are a victim of a hate crime and have not reported it, please do so now by calling the Fremont Police Department at (510) 790‑6800 and selecting option 3. All allegations of hate will be thoroughly investigated.
