Proposed rewrite of Chicago’s hate crime ordinance would create additional category of ‘hate incidents’

CHICAGO - Chicago hate crimes have spiked to levels not seen in decades.

Imagine how many complaints there might be if Chicago started tracking "hate incidents," which can be a precursor to hate crimes.

The City Council’s only Jewish member isn’t afraid to find out. Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th) believes it’s time to strengthen a hate crimes ordinance last updated more than 30 years ago.

At this week’s Council meeting, Silverstein and 32 co-sponsors plan to introduce a so-called "Chi Vs. Hate" ordinance. It would create the category of "hate incident" and allow Chicagoans to report those less-serious incidents by calling the city’s 311 non-emergency number or by using the 311 app.

"It’s not just having an argument with somebody. It’s something hateful. We had people give the ‘Sieg Heil’ salute for Hitler. We had people in the LGBTQ community that had all of their flags taken away and burned," Silverstein said.

"There are definitely incidents that are happening, and we need to make sure that we’re tracking them."

Political tensions across a divided nation are running high with the multiple indictments pending against former President Donald Trump.

In Chicago, the burgeoning migrant crisis has exacerbated longstanding tensions between Black and Hispanic people. The Anti-Defamation League has reported a 36% increase in antisemitic incidents across the country. Hate crimes against Asian Americans more than tripled during the pandemic.

Against that ugly backdrop, it would not be surprising to see millions of "hate incidents" reported in Chicago.

What exactly would the city do with that new information?

"Incidents are a precursor to crimes. We’re gonna be tracking them and monitoring if they’re in specific locations. And if they are, we need to take steps to see where they’re coming from, do more research into what’s happening and try to get things under control before it turns into a crime," Silverstein said.

The ordinance defines a hate incident as a "non-criminal hostile expression or action that may be motivated by bias against another person’s actual or perceived identity or status, including but not limited to actual or perceived race, color, sex, gender identity, age, religion, disability, national origin, ancestry or sexual orientation."

The new category of "hate incident" was further defined as "non-criminal incidents of hateful graffiti or vandalism; derogatory insults; name-calling or gestures; bullying; use of identity- or status-based slurs or pejoratives; verbal online or written abuse and harassment and the placement of hateful or offensive material in public view."

Chicago police officers who witness such behavior would be required to report a description of the incident and contact information for the alleged target and perpetrator to the city’s Commission on Human Relations.

The police department would also be required to "maintain a publicly available online dashboard" of hate incidents and update it on "at least a monthly basis." The dashboard must include the "date, location, ward number, bias category and offense description" of each hate incident, the ordinance states.

At a time when the Chicago Police Department is struggling to comply with the rigid training requirements of a federal consent decree, the ordinance would mandate "in-service training every two years" for all sworn personnel on "methods, strategies and techniques for recognizing and responding to hate incidents, including procedures for processing reports and complaints."

The Commission on Human Relations would publish an annual report with:

• The total number of reported hate incidents, organized by bias motivation and the disposition of investigations in each police district.
• An evaluation of the effectiveness of city policies and procedures in ensuring that hate incidents are "comprehensively investigated, tracked and reported" and that "survivors of hate incidents receive assistance" from city agencies.
• Recommended legislative, policy or procedural changes "designed to reduce or eliminate hate incidents."
• Findings and recommendations concerning ways in which hate crimes and hate-based tensions can be reduced in the affected area.

Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th), chair of the Council’s Committee on Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said it "makes sense to find out when we have incidents that might lead to some more dangerous activities."

"We’ve seen … hate speech tagged on places in a way that we haven’t seen before. We need to start somewhere as far as tracking some of this because we’re just seeing more of it on the ground.

"A lot of it did elevate more since President Trump got elected. COVID exacerbated some of it in ways that people have trauma and they’re stressing. Divisions seems to have widened during that time," he said.

Silverstein plans to hold a news conference before Thursday’s Council meeting. She will be joined by a racial and ethnic rainbow of Council colleagues and by representatives from the Jewish United Fund and American Jewish Committee, Howard Brown Health, and the Pride Action Tank.