Austin Police Department's Safe Place Initiative Presentation — original pdf

Backup

SAFE PLACE INITIATIVE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT AUSTIN, TX CHRISTIAN MENDOZA Pronouns: he/him/his -LGBTQIA+ Outreach -APD Safe Place Initiative 2008: Volunteer 2018: Employed APD SAFE PLACE INITIATIVE Free and voluntary partnership with the business, faith and non-profit community that serves a critical role in assisting victims of hate crimes. 1) *Call 911 on behalf of the victim 2) Create a safe place for the victim Due to safety concerns, this initiative is NOT designed or authorized for individual and/or residential use *you are not required to call 911 if there is no threat to life/property and the victim does not want police involved HISTORY 1970’s: “Yellow Hand Program” 2014: Ofc. Jim Ritter appointed to Seattle PD LGBTQ+ Liaison 2015: Safe Place Program born to address under reporting of LGBTQ+ hate crimes 2018: Language changed to include everyone, not just LGBTQ+ 2019: Austin PD becomes 1st agency in Texas to join and 1st in the world to offer it in multiple languages ABOUT THE DECAL Trademarked by Seattle PD 3’-5’ from the ground in all entrances accessible to the public Same decal across the U.S to maintain continuity and branding Simplified Chinese Vietnamese PARTICIPATING ENTITIES -10,000+ in the U.S. LOCAL ENTITIES 105 in Austin, TX WHAT IS THE FEDERAL DEFINITION OF A HATE CRIME? A criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a person’s actual or perceived: -Race -Color -Disability -Sexual orientation -National origin/ethnicity -Gender -Religion -Gender identity WHAT IS THE TEXAS DEFINITION OF A HATE CRIME? A criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a person’s actual or perceived: -National origin/ethnicity -Judge -Sexual orientation -Peace officer -Race -Color -Religion -Disability -Gender -Age WHAT IS A BIAS INCIDENT (HATE SPEECH)? -Bias incidents are non-criminal. -Bias incidents are where a subject uses/directs offensive/derogatory words at an individual and/or group during constitutionally protected free speech and the subject does not accompany those words with direct threats and/or actions. “Hateful speech is not a crime, but it can be evidence of a hate crime.” According to Stop AAPI Hate, Texas ranks 4th in anti-Asian hate crimes AUSTIN, TX STATISTICS 1 of 16,000 agencies that reports to the FBI AUSTIN, TX STATISTICS 2018 Total: 18 Anti-LGBTQ+: 5 2019 Total: 12 Anti-LGBTQ+: 5 2015 Total: 14 Anti-LGBTQ+: 6 2016 Total: 17 Anti-LGBTQ+: 7 2017 Total: 17 Anti-LGBTQ+: 5 2020 Total: 17 Anti-LGBTQ+: 5 2021 Total: 25 Anti-LGBTQ+: 8 APD HATE CRIME REVIEW TEAM -Patrol officers flag hate crime reports -9 people; sworn and civilian -Meet once a month -Review team searches keywords/phrases Dial/Text* 911 to make a hate crime report if: -There is a threat to life or property -There is a medical emergency 911 VS. 311 APD Policy change effective 10/1/2021 * Currently only available in English Dial 311 to make a hate crime report if: -Crime has already occurred -No threat to life or property -Suspect(s) is no longer on scene 2 WAYS TO REPORT A CRIME ELECTRONICALLY IREPORTAUSTIN.COM Atlas One app HATE CRIME INFORMATION/QUESTIONS APDHateCrimes@austintexas.gov “I speak… Urdu.” “I speak… Farsi” “I speak… Dari.” “I speak… Kinyarwanda.” “I speak… Tagalog.” RESOURCES FOR VICTIM/PARTICIPANT -APD Victim Services/Crisis Team -Language Line HOW TO PARTICIPATE 1) Entity in APD’s jurisdiction 2) Receive authorization 3) Visit APDSAFEPLACE.ORG and complete online registration form 4) Receive a 30-min in-person or virtual training 5) Commit to the Safe Place Initiative principles QUESTIONS/COMMENTS Christian Mendoza #8688 Pronouns: he/him/his Work: (512) 974-4734 Cell: (512) 971-4674 christian.mendoza@austintexas.gov