By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (KCPAO) is placing a priority on hate crimes, as deputy prosecutors Leandra Craft and David Bannick are leading an effort by the Prosecutor’s Office to curb the violence and threats against minorities and the gay community in Seattle.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, there has been an increase in the number of hate crimes reported to their office, but they fear there are many more that go unreported. The goal of this effort is to get people from communities that are often targets of hate crimes to report these crimes every time they occur.
Unfortunately, victims of bias motivated or hate crimes are often fearful to report for a variety of reason. This can lead to a significant under reporting and inaccurate statistics. The police departments and courts want victims of hate crimes to feel comfortable reporting these incidents.
“We really want to talk to as many groups of people as possible,” says Bannick. “Get that word out and let people know that if this happens to them that it is something their local government takes very, very seriously.”
The rise in hate crimes has given the King County Prosecuting Offices a sense of urgency in addressing this issue, and Bannick and Craft believe this area of concern needs more attention.
“We chose to be hate crime co-leads because of the passion for the work,” says Bannick. “This is an area we feel needs special care and special attention. We really take pride in doing that.”
“David and I anecdotally feel like there are more hate crime cases being referred to our office and the numbers reflect that,” says Craft. “Some of the things that David and I are really trying to do in this position is to reach out to more community members.”
So far this year, King County has 51 reported hate crimes up from 38 in 2019 and 30 in 2018.
“This year we’ve seen an increase in the number of hate crime cases across King County,” Casey McNerthney, Director of Communications, King County Prosecuting Attorneys Office. “With another month left in 2020, we’ve already filed more cases this year than the number of hate crime cases filed in 2019 or 2018.”
According to Seattle Police Department statistics, ethnic groups possess the highest percentage of incidents with African Americans being at the top of list.
Bannick feels that it is important to bring to light the importance of incident reporting and patterns.
“The most recent data we have from victims I think is from 2019,” says Bannick. “It shows, by far, the most common victims for hate crimes in Seattle is African Americans and gay men. These two groups together make up over half of the victims for hate crimes in Seattle.”
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is working to bridge that gap. They are hoping through outreach they will be able to inform the general public, particularly groups that are commonly targeted, that the KCPAO is prioritizing and getting a heads up in preventing hate crimes.
“We really think that getting the word out about hate crimes is an important part of our job,” says Bannick. “The number of hate crimes that we’re able to file are a function of the number of hate crimes that get reported. And not everybody knows what hate crimes are.”
If you are a victim of a hate crime or are a witness to one, authorities are encouraging you to call 9-1-1 if the incident is in progress, or to call (206) 625-5011, if the incident has already occurred.
