The Board of Directors for both the SELANOCO (Southeast Los Angeles-North Orange County) Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and the Pacific Southwest District (PSWD) of the JACL have agreed to support the efforts of the Orange County Human Relations Council as they strive to combat hate incidents and hate crimes that have been directed against people of Asian American ancestry in Orange County.
Based upon information provided to the Human Relations Council, there have been 10 hate incidents and one hate crime directed towards members of the Asian American communities in Orange County since the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19).
In order to assist the council in tracking/reporting hate crimes, individuals are encouraged to take the following actions if you observe or are the victim of a hate crime/incident:
? Please consider your safety first. If you are physically in danger, please call 911.
? Report: If you have been the target of a hate crime/incident, call the police immediately or we urge you to report the incident to the Orange County Human Relations Council: http://www.ochumanrelations.org/hatecrime/report/ or call (714) 480-6580.
The law enforcement community cannot do an adequate job of combating hate crimes/incidents unless they are made aware of these crimes/incident in a timely matter.
Let us do our part in helping to keep our communities free of hate by reporting all hate crimes/incidents.
Nancy Takayama, JACL PSWD Governor
Ken Inouye, Chair, Orange County Human Relations Council