PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — City leaders say there have been increasing incidents of hate crimes and intimidation in the past year. Although some are reported to police, especially those involving physical violence, community groups say many go unreported.
The Portland City Council on Wednesday approved money for a new project to keep track of and respond to hate crimes. A number of community groups have been working on this issue long before the MAX attack.
The non-profit Coalition of Communities of Color said the $40,000 request to City Council will be used to come up with a plan to collect reports of hate incidents and to host cultural and identity-based groups to help design the surveys.
From that information, they’ll figure out where to target training and workshops in the community to combat hate.
The city’s Portland United Against Hate joins 8 community groups — including Africa House, Latino Network, the Urban League and the Q Center — along with the Office of Neighborhood Involvement to work on tracking not just hate actions and speech but figuring out ways to combat the hate for both victims and communities.
