SAN LEANDRO, Calif. (KRON) - New data released by the San Leandro Police Department reveals alarming rates of attacks against the Asian community.
Violent crimes against Asian Americans in San Leandro jumped 283% in 2020 compared to 2019.
Unfortunately, this is something we're seeing across the country and right here in the Bay Area.
The statistics are not unique to San Leandro and like other nearby cities including San Francisco and Oakland, the San Leandro Police Department is increasing patrols to protect the Asian American community.
Violent attacks against Asian Americans in San Leandro increased 283% in 2020 compared to 2019.
Crime analysts at the San Leandro Police Department recently looked into the crime data by race in wake of recent attacks this year.
“32% of our population in San Leandro are Asian Americans and at the request of city council members given what is happening regionally, the crime trend, it appears our Asian and Pacific Islander community members are being targeted,” Ali Khan said.
Ali Khan of the San Leandro Police Department who is also a member of the Pacific Islander community says the numbers are concerning.
He says a majority of the attacks are against elders in places where many run their errands in the city.
“We're seeing street-level crimes rise so shopping malls, strip malls, bank parking lots, those are the areas that are now being targeted,” Khan said.
For example, this attack happened at the Bank of America off Marina Boulevard in San Leandro at the beginning of February.
Witnesses captured the aftermath and say several suspects pushed the victim to the ground, robbed him, and took off in a getaway car.
“Most recent robberies occurred in the parking lot of a bank where elderly Asian gentleman was depositing a substantial amount of money, almost $18,000,” Khan said.
Khan says they've identified persons of interest in this case.
Meanwhile, data gathered by the department reveals that Asians are also more likely to be robbed than any other group in the city.
While the San Leandro Police Department posted educational videos in Mandarin, urging members of the Asian American community to report crimes. They say they're also taking a proactive approach in patrols.
“We have a large contingency of marked patrol officers. We're enforcing beyond that. We're sending our detectives out but we're also sending covert officers out in unmarked vehicles to provide that security check-in what we considered those hot spot areas so shopping malls, strip malls, and banks,” Khan said.
Mayor Pauline Cutter also released a statement on Thursday denouncing the recent anti-Asian attacks saying the city has a zero-tolerance policy for these crimes.
They're asking that if you see something, say something and of course call the police.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/2NY3HcG
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