Hate Crimes and Bias-related Incidents

What is a hate crime?

A hate crime must include both "hate" and a "crime." Under Washington State Law: “A person is guilty of malicious harassment if he or she maliciously and intentionally commits one of the following acts because of his or her perception of the victim’s race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or mental, physical, or sensory handicap:

• Causes physical injury to the victim or another person.
• Causes physical damage to or destruction of the property of the victim or another person.
• Threatens a specific person or group of persons and places that person, or members of the specific group of persons, in reasonable fear of harm to person or property.

A crime is an act deemed illegal; it becomes a hate crime when it is motivated by bias or prejudice against a person or people perceived to be part of a group and intended to induce fear, scare, terrify, or cause psychological harm.

What is a bias-related incident? 

• If the suspect is in the process of committing another crime and calls the victim a derogatory name.
• If the suspect uses insulting or derogatory words but does not place another person in a reasonable fear of harm to their person or property.

If the incident is not found to be a crime - either a hate crime or any other type of crime - there is often not much enforcement action police can take. Renton PD does keep detailed statistics on all hate or biased crime incidents, and we very much encourage the reporting every incident of this type.

If the incident was a crime but was not believed to be motivated by your status, the police will investigate the crime to the full extent of the law, but it will not be charged as a hate crime. 

If it is found that there is no directly enforceable action that can be taken by police, that does not mean what happened to you wasn't wrong. You may seek civil action against the suspect by contacting a private attorney. 

Reporting hate crimes can lead to their prevention by identifying those prone to these activities and sending a message that these crimes will not be ignored.

One of the most common reasons victims gave for not reporting a hate crime was that they felt it may be perceived as too trivial. It is not trivial, and the Renton Police Department wants to hear from you. 

The importance of reporting hate crimes

For the police to respond effectively to any crime, they must be notified immediately via 911 so that any injuries can be treated, witnesses can be interviewed, and evidence can be collected and preserved.

Unfortunately, victims of hate crimes are often fearful to report for a variety of reasons. This can lead to significant under-reporting and inaccurate statistics. It also allows the suspects who committed these crimes to continue their behavior with other victims. The Renton Police Department wants victims of hate crimes to feel comfortable reporting these incidents to the police.

 

Ways to report hate crimes

• If the incident is happening now, or just happened, call 911 immediately.
• If the incident has already occurred, the immediate danger is over and there are no injuries, call our non-emergency number 425-235-2121.
• The immediate police response to a report of a hate crime will be handled like any other call. However: 
  • If you believe the incident was motivated by your status, ask the officer to make not of that in the report.
  • Try to give the officer the exact wording of what was said, regardless of how offensive it is.
  • If there are witnesses to the incident, point them out to officers at the scene. 
  • If the case meets the criteria for a hate crime, your case will be forwarded for investigation

If you are not comfortable calling 911 or have additional questions regarding being a victim of or witnessing a hate crime, you can call the Renton Police Department Hate Crime Hotline at 1-844-RPT-HATE (1-844-778-4283) or email reporthate@rentonwa.gov.

Reporting tips:

• Obtain medical attention if needed. Keep all medical documentation. Take photos of any injuries.
• Leave all evidence in place; do not touch, remove, or clean up anything.
• Document what happened and get a description of the suspect(s) and/or their vehicle.
• Collect the names, addresses, and phone numbers of any victims or witnesses.
• Write down any hate language used, particularly any verbiage indicating bias was the motivation for the crime.