SAN JOSE — Lawmakers in the South Bay are calling for the creation of a regional Hate Crimes Task Force as violent hate crimes continue to increase around the country.
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors unanimously supported the proposal by Supervisor Cindy Chavez Tuesday, which called out a “culture of hate and hate-inspired violence” around the country that “erupted in our own community on July 28th, 2019 in Gilroy.”
Three people were killed after a gunman opened fire at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in what officials have said was a random attack.
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A recent report from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism found a 9% increase in police reports of hate crimes in major U.S. cities.
“We’re not immune from somebody becoming deadly dangerous to the community because they don’t like the color of someone’s skin or the place they come from,” said Chavez. “And so this seemed like a good opportunity for us to pull the community together to figure out, how do we want to respond to issues like this?”
The county’s proposal follows a similar recommendation by San Jose leaders for the region to develop a clear set of strategies to address hate crimes, prejudice and violence in the community.
“How to we want to build our community so we don’t have conflicts like this in the future? And what are all the different ways we can support each other so that we’re really looking at the root causes of this kind of issue?” said Chavez. The proposal calls for county officials to work with other local governments to tackle these types of questions.
While the proposal is still in its early days, officials want the group to look for ways to strengthen intelligence gathering to better monitor hate groups and hate speech, combat the illegal gun trade and promote inclusion within the community.
“It behooves every single region in the country to take a leadership role in helping people live together in a peaceful, prosperous way,” said Chavez, who believes the South Bay’s diversity is a major asset when it comes to this work. “If any community on the globe can figure out how to live together in peace and harmony it should be this one.”