San Francisco Police Department Partners with Yellow Whistle Project
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) -- The San Francisco Police Department this week announced a partnership with a local organization on a campaign that aims to help Asian residents feels safer in response to hate crimes being reported at unprecedented levels.
The Yellow Whistle project was launched earlier this year by leaders within the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, providing residents with a whistle that they can use to call for help during a hate crime or any other type of violent or harassing encounter.
Through its partnership with the San Francisco Community Alliance for Unity, Safety and Education, or SFCAUSE, the whistles are now available at all 10 SFPD district stations.
"We're grateful to partner with organizations like SFCAUSE to raise awareness and enhance public safety in AAPI and other communities that have been disproportionately targeted in hate crimes and hate-related incidents over the last year-and-a-half," SFPD Police Chief Bill Scott said in a statement.
Prior to the Yellow Whistle project, SFPD partnered with SFCAUSE to launch a multilingual Hate Crimes Tip Line earlier this summer, which according to Scott, "has been instrumental in helping us develop evidence and information in several cases."
To date, the hate crime tip line has collected more than 78 reports, with about 52 of those in Cantonese, police said.
According to the San Francisco-based nonprofit Stop AAPI Hate, between March 19, 2020, and March 31, 2021, there were at least 6,600 hate crimes reported nationwide, with 359 of those having occurred in San Francisco.
More information about the nationwide Yellow Whistle project can be found at www.theyellowwhistle.org.
SFPD's Hate Crime Tip Line, which offers assistance in nine languages, can be reached at (415) 558-5588.
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