First, we believe that hate crimes are significantly underreported to law enforcement. We know that some people are afraid to come forward. They may have a fear or distrust of law enforcement, fear due to their immigration status, or a fear of retribution from their attacker. We understand that. But law enforcement can’t investigate a crime if people are too afraid to come forward. I assure you that our primary goal is to protect victims, regardless of their immigration status or their country of origin.
Another challenge is that federal hate crimes are difficult to charge in court. Law enforcement may have evidence of the underlying crime, whether it be assault, arson, or even murder. However, hate crimes are some of the only crimes where law enforcement has to prove the motive in a court of law. In order to charge a federal hate crime, we have to prove the offender acted intentionally and willfully with bias. That can be difficult to prove. It’s often very critical that witnesses come forward to speak to law enforcement about what happened. It’s also helpful for members of the community to support each other, and encourage people to come forward if they have been the victim of a crime.
But these challenges do not stop the FBI from actively and thoroughly investigating hate crimes. We work closely with local law enforcement, like the Oakland Police Department, and both federal and local prosecutors. We work together to find the best plan of action, whether a violent offender is ultimately charged locally or in federal court. Our FBI agents have an excellent working relationship with OPD investigators and other police departments throughout the Bay Area. We regularly share information on reported hate crimes and we collaborate on investigations. Our ultimate goal is to protect victims, to help them get justice, to stop violent offenders from hurting people, and to deter people from committing these terrible crimes.
The FBI has been working closely with a number of partners in Oakland to combat and deter hate crimes. In particular, I want to highlight the efforts of OPD Chief LeRonne Armstrong, Carl Chan of the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, Geoff Collins, the Asian Advisory Committee on Crime, the Neighborhood Crime Prevention Councils, and the Chinatown Volunteer Patrols.
FBI San Francisco has recently developed a new strategy to tackle this increase in reported hate crimes against the Asian American Pacific Islander community and to work proactively to try to stop these crimes from happening.
First, we are increasing our federal investigative activity. We have trained, experienced hate crime coordinators who are training additional agents on the complexities of civil rights and hate crime investigations. We have a team of analysts who are scrubbing reports of hate crimes to identify possible new cases for our agents to investigate.
Second, we are working closely with our local law enforcement partners, like OPD, even when it’s not possible to bring federal charges. We can offer FBI resources, forensic expertise, and investigative experience to local law enforcement to pursue hate crime cases that are charged under California law. We can also offer training to local law enforcement on federal hate crime laws so they know when the FBI may be able to adopt a case for federal charges.
Third, we are rapidly expanding our community outreach. Part of this is so that we can really listen to the fears and concerns of the community, but also so that we can help educate people on what the FBI can do to help. We want to encourage people to report hate crimes so that we can help people find justice.
Fourth, we have launched a major public awareness campaign to let people know that the FBI investigates hate crimes, and to tell people about our reporting process. People can report hate crimes, in whatever language they prefer, to the FBI via our website, tips.fbi.gov. FBI agents look at every tip that comes in, and we will work with local law enforcement to identify and investigate possible federal crimes. We are letting people know that we will protect them, regardless of their immigration status or their national origin. Hate crimes are a huge priority for the FBI, and we are surging resources to address this problem.