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N
E W S August
31, 2003: Maryland, USA Recently, a Sikh family in Gaithersburg, Maryland, who wished to remain anonymous, received death threats by mail, two letters weeks apart. The first letter, sent in July, stated, "people in this neighborhood believe that your family is associated with the Taliban…, take safety precautions." The second letter, sent in August, stated, "they have plans to kill you and your family members…, take necessary precautions." The family called 911 but was disheartened that the police took over two and a half hours to respond. The police officers then assured them that they would increase police patrols in the area, but the family did not notice any chance. This disconnect between the family - victims of a hate incident - and the police prompted SMART (Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Taskforce) to organize a community forum in collaboration with local, state and federal law enforcement officials. They also invited other minority community groups to participate. The purpose of the forum, called "Combating Hate Crimes", was to present information about how to effectively deal with such hate-motivated incidents and to mutually educate community members and law enforcement as to what to expect from each other. Sikh, Muslim and Arab representatives voiced their concerns that their communities need faster response time. They informed the law enforcement officials that the biggest challenge is that hate crimes are severely under reported. Most people, when faced with hate incidents, do not know what to do. Many do not understand the importance of reporting a hate incident or a hate crime. Some fear law enforcement or are afraid of retaliation from the perpetrators. The biggest concerns that law enforcement officials voiced was that they are faced with a language barrier. They need to formalize relationships with community representatives to communicate better. They expressed the need to be invited to community events to disseminate information and to build relationships. The importance of reporting even a minor hate incident is important so that these incidents can be tracked as local "hot spots" for potential future hate crimes. The forum resulted in three important action items. First is the need to build "citizens police academies." Representatives from the Sikh community, for example, will go through a condensed version of the training that police officers go through. This would be held twice a year. The outcome would be community representatives who are trained to respond to hate incidents/crimes, who serve as contacts for their community members and who serve as liaisons between the victims and the police. Language and culture would no longer be a barrier for the victims. Second is to formalize relations between the various departments, committees and levels of law enforcement and advocacy groups and representatives from minority communities. Plans are underway to create a comprehensive list of these individuals and share contact information. This will enable the group to get to the right person quickly when the need arises. Third is to tackle hate issues in schools. Police officers would visit schools to talk about harassment and bullying, especially that base on hate. The original concern about response time was addressed by Montgomery County Police Chief O'Toole. Calls that come into the police departments are prioritized depending on various factors such as whether it is life threatening, how many incidents are reported in the area or the severity of the crime. These factors determine whether an officer shows up at the door in three minutes or three hours. But Chief O'Toole did assure that every incident is officially logged and investigated. All hate incidents and hate crimes, he said, should be reported. The Gaithersburg family has been on edge since they received
the hate mails. Their fears were heightened during the recent blackout,
but they acknowledged that the police did eventually increase patrols
in their neighborhood. Coincidentally, the family already had plans to
move out of the neighborhood. Their house was on the market before they
received the hate mails.
Copyright
©The Sikh Sentinel 2003 |