Dallas

In Dallas, Police & Asian Americans Remain Vigilant Amid Nationwide Rise in Hate Crimes

Groups in Texas said there were 4,000 hate crime incidents against Asian Americans across the U.S. in the last year

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Asian American community groups and leaders from across Texas held a virtual conference Tuesday to discuss the rise in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans across the country.

Groups in Texas said there were 4,000 hate crime incidents against Asian Americans across the U.S. in the last year. More than 100 of those were documented in Texas, the fourth-highest number in the country.

“My young daughter is very quick to pick this up and reminds me and asks me to be careful,” said Gal Jumaoas, president of the Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce.

In Dallas, police are proactively reaching out to members of the Asian American community to both ensure their safety and peace of mind.

Since the start of 2020, only one hate-motivated crime targeting an Asian American has been reported but Dallas police Chief Eddie Garica said he believed statistics, in this case, likely don’t tell the whole story.

“We know that hate crime is a very under-reported crime, so the fact that we have only one reported such crime is not as important as the fear our community feels,” Garcia said.

How to Help

In recent weeks, Garcia said he had been in close contact with the local office of the FBI as well as all branches of his department as they track the national rise in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans. Garcia said he hoped by staying on top of what’s happening, Dallas will avoid the incidents that have made national headlines in cities like New York.

“The universal language of seeing one of these uniforms in a neighborhood providing safety and security is one that we hope gets through to our community,” Garcia said.

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