Skokie officials are proactively launching an initiative to track hate incidents, such as racial graffiti, before they rise to the level of hate crimes. The village will analyze data on both hate incidents and hate crimes to determine what programs it can offer aimed at increasing tolerance.
“This is one of those powerful moments in municipal government when you know in your heart that a new program, project or legislation will have a far-reaching impact on our community,” said Corporation Counsel Michael Lorge, who had joined two trustees in studying the issue, at the April 17 Village Board meeting.
Hate crime and incident data will be analyzed for the Human Relations Commission to determine future programs and prevention efforts, according to a city memo. The data will also be included in the Skokie Police Department’s annual report, according to Trustee Khem Khoeun. Lorge, in a phone call with Pioneer Press, said collected data will not include private information.
Trustees Khoeun and Keith Robinson also brought forth a motion to discuss allocating the Human Relations Commission $2,500 to assist in these efforts, which had unanimous support on April 17. Lorge told Pioneer Press the motion will likely reach discussion during upcoming budget hearings.
Khoeun said hate crimes and hate incidents happen all around the country with Skokie being no exception. She said some 2020 events in Skokie helped inspire the project, including three homes being vandalized with racial epithets, racial slurs graffitied on the AMC Theatre parking structures and a gay man’s house being egged by a group of teens.
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“We were frustrated to find these incidents didn’t fall under hate crime statutes as defined at the federal and state level,” Khoeun said. “We found this to be problematic, and something else was missing.”
Robinson explained that hate crimes include criminal behaviors like shootings and physical assault, whereas hate incidents include verbal altercations and harassment.
Khoeun said hate incidents need to be studied to prevent them from escalating into hate crimes.
As the program’s introduction to the Board of Trustees came to a close and trustees unanimously supported it, the room burst into applause.
Skokie resident and activist Gail Schechter thanked the board for the proposal while also suggesting further avenues, including a rapid response program for when a hate crime takes place and a study into the socioeconomic causes of bias and hate incidents.
“One of the things (racial equity organizations) talk about is looking at root causes,” Schechter said. “Local governments could look at socioeconomic causes leading to hate incidents and provide programs and services.”
Schechter also said the rapid response statement shouldn’t just come from the police department but include representatives from other community sectors, such as religious leaders.
The approved project comes after Khoeun, Johnson and Lorge met with subject matter experts to determine Skokie’s best step forward. These experts include Los Angeles Police Department Hate Crime Coordinator Detective Orlando Martinez, California State University San Bernardino Professor Brian Levin and former Washington D.C. Judiciary Committee Civil Rights Staff Lawyer Sonia Gill, according to village records.
In addition, the three officials said they reviewed current Skokie Police Department training and protocol for hate crime identification and tracking alongside determining how hate incidents can escalate into hate crimes.
The program comes after a nationwide increase in hate crimes in recent years, Khoeun said. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 64.5% of hate crimes are related to race and ethnicity followed by sexual orientation at 15.6%.