Anti-Asian hate crimes have increased in San Francisco by nearly six-fold from 2020, according to recently released data from the San Francisco Police Department.
The number of crime victims targeted due to anti-Asian bias rose to 60 victims in 2021 from 9 such victims in 2020 — a 567% increase, the department reported.
"The number of hate crimes targeting members of our AAPI communities is alarming, but it's important to remember that San Francisco police officers have made arrests in the majority of these cases," SFPD Chief Bill Scott said in a Tuesday press release.
Scott referenced one perpetrator in particular that had been responsible for 31 hate crimes, more than half of 2021's cases.
The suspect, Derik Barreto, was charged with four counts of second-degree burglary, 27 counts of vandalism, 31 counts of hate crime enhancement, 31 counts of being armed in commission of a felony, and four counts of possession with burglary tools.
"Hate crimes represent one of SFPD's highest clearance rates for any crime category, and we hope that sends a forceful message to would-be hate criminals considering any kind of bias-motivated attack in our city — San Francisco will hold you accountable," he said.
Along with the increase in anti-Asian hate crimes, the city found there was a decrease in hate crimes against Arabs or Muslims and Latinos. There were slight increases for others, such as anti-Jewish hate crimes, which increased to eight reports last year from five the year previously.
The department's current data is considered preliminary as the California Department of Justice makes the final review of hate crime data reporting across the state.
Related
