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News / Northwest

New hate-crime hotline is under way in 3 Washington counties

One hate crime is one too many’

By Simone Carter, The News Tribune, Tacoma
Published: January 20, 2025, 12:05pm

A new law took effect Jan. 1 in Washington that establishes a hotline to report and track hate crimes and bias incidents.

Senate Bill 5427 is aimed at providing better support and services for hate-crime victims. The Attorney General’s Office oversees the hotline, which is being piloted in King, Clark and Spokane counties; it will expand statewide by 2027.

State Sen. Javier Valdez, the Seattle Democrat who sponsored the bill, told McClatchy that hate crimes have been on the rise in Washington and nationwide. But some who have been harmed by hate crimes don’t feel comfortable talking to law enforcement.

“So this just gives individuals another avenue to go and talk about their experience if they feel that they’re a victim of hate crimes,” Valdez said. “They will be able to talk about it with that individual taking the call, and then seeing whether or not they do want to go to law enforcement, or getting it referred to the appropriate place or agency.”

The measure has generated widespread support from rights groups including the Latino Civic Alliance, the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle and the Washington State LGBTQ Commission. But critics have concerns that the hotline could have a chilling effect on free speech.

Washington isn’t alone in trying to crack down on hate crimes. Last May, California’s civil rights department reported that the state’s own recently launched hotline had connected hundreds of residents to support following more than 1,000 reported acts of hate.

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown told McClatchy that hate crimes in this state saw a sharp spike during the pandemic, particularly against the Asian community. Such crimes can be hard to prove because one has to show the act was motivated by an animus against a person’s identity or perceived identity, he said.

“In order to successfully prosecute people for a violent racist attack, or a violent homophobic attack, or an attack on someone because they happen to be Jewish, we (as a) law enforcement community need to have the tools to prove those,” Brown said in a December interview. “So my hope is that this is just another tool for folks to use.”

The state also has witnessed a rise in religious discrimination, crimes against LGBTQ+ people and antisemitism, he said.

Washington in 2021 logged 576 hate crimes, a 28% increase compared with 2020, as noted by the Anti-Defamation League’s Pacific Northwest branch. Regional director Miri Cypers said that while the state has made progress in strengthening anti-hate laws, advocates were still seeing a large gap in services, resources and policies to protect victims.

Oregon’s hate-crime hotline, implemented in 2020, served as a solid model for Washington’s, Cypers said. That state’s policy helped lead to a substantial increase in reporting there. It also gave officials more data about communities affected by hate, plus where to allocate resources.

Washington’s hotline is something that will be refined over time, and community feedback will help inform that process, she said. There is “severe underreporting” in Washington because people aren’t fully educated about hate crimes or are reluctant to engage with law enforcement, she said.

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Valdez, who has long been a leader on combating hate crimes, is hopeful that the law will help vulnerable Washingtonians.

“One hate crime is one too many,” he said.

Concerns about the hotline

Attorney John Coleman works with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), an organization that acts to protect free speech on college campuses and beyond. He said that under SB 5427, the term “bias incident” is defined broadly and covers expression, not conduct.

The law describes bias incidents as being non-criminal in nature: cases when a person expresses hostility toward another based on factors such as race, sexuality or religion. Such incidents do not include expressions that oppose or support the actions and policies of governments.

FIRE has seen cases when bias-response teams on college campuses “abuse their authority,” according to its website. The organization fears that Washington’s hotline could similarly create a chilling effect on speech.

“It really is going to be kind of neighbor against neighbor, particularly when it’s going to apply statewide, where people are just going to be reporting things,” Coleman said. “… No one wants to be reported on, particularly to an entity that has some authority over you — whether that’s in the campus context or whether that’s local law enforcement.”

The state’s Republican Party has decried the measure as a “snitch line” that could be used to target those with “viewpoint diversity.”

But Brown offered assurances that the AG’s Office will avoid contributing to the trampling of free expression: “This is not a hotline where people complain because their neighbor’s stereo is too loud or something.”

Cypers said the establishment of services for victims of hate doesn’t at all change the nature of free-speech laws. Washington state includes robust protections for expression, she added.

“This is really about hate and people’s ability to live safely,” Cypers said, “and it’s not about politics.”

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