SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Jan. 10, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — The Salt Lake City Division of the FBI has released public service announcements in English and eight foreign languages to expand the reach within diverse communities and encourage the reporting of hate crimes.
The PSA, which appears below in English, has been translated and recorded in Arabic, Turkish, Urdu, Persian-Afghan (Dari), Persian-Iranian (Farsi), Pashto-Afghani, Somali, and Spanish. Click the links to view the PSAs in each language.
One of the primary goals of this campaign is to connect with community members of various backgrounds, including those who may have challenges with literacy, says a news release issued by the FBI Salt Lake City office.
In the English PSA, Special Agent in Charge Shohini Sinha says recent events in our country and overseas have led to an increase in harassment and intimidation within some communities.
“We understand some people may be scared or hesitant to come forward to law enforcement for whatever reason, but I want to assure you the FBI is here to serve all communities and keep us all safe,” SAC Sinha says in the PSA.
The PSAs will be shared with various religious, civic, and community organizations, and refugee service providers in Utah.
“Crimes motivated by hate and bigotry have no place in our society, and we won’t tolerate them,” said Sinha. “The FBI works with our law enforcement partners to ensure everyone, regardless of race, faith, sexual orientation, or disability, feels secure and protected.”
The PSAs were translated, recorded, and reviewed with assistance from linguists at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and FBI field offices in Charlotte, Cleveland, Dallas, Kansas City, San Diego, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and Washington.
Hate crime stats
Last fall, the FBI released its 2022 Hate Crime Report as part of its Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program.
In Utah, 135 of 147 agencies voluntarily submitted data for this report. There were 104 incidents reported in 2022 and 153 reported victims, compared to 88 incidents reported and 119 reported victims in 2021. In 2021, data was voluntarily submitted by 131 of 146 agencies.
In 2022, the top three bias categories in single-bias incidents were race/ethnicity/ancestry (43%), sexual-orientation (34%), and religion (13%). Additional data is available on the FBI’s Crime Data Explorer.
FBI’s investigative role
Hate crimes are the highest priority of the FBI’s civil rights program because of the devastating impact they have on families and communities, the released statement says. The FBI defines a hate crime as a criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.
The FBI is the lead investigative agency for criminal violations of federal civil rights statutes and works closely with local, state, tribal, and other federal law enforcement partners in many of these cases, even when federal charges are not pursued.
If you believe you are a victim or a witness of a hate crime, we encourage you to report it to the FBI by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI or submitting a tip at tips.fbi.gov.
The FBI Hate Crime Threat Response Guide is a useful resource and describes how to respond to and report various types of hate crime threats (physical, verbal, phoned, electronic, and written or visual threats).
