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Hate and bias report shows mixed trends; commission plans outreach and June panel
Summary
City staff presented 2024 hate-incident and hate-crime counts showing overall statewide decreases but localized increases in some categories; commissioners discussed outreach, PSAs, recruitment and a June public panel to broaden reporting and support.
City staff presented a year-to-year summary of hate and bias reports for Eugene and Oregon, and commissioners used the data as a basis for immediate outreach planning, including a proposed panel discussion in June.
Fabio, who presented the data, said the Oregon Department of Justice submissions for 2024 showed a 41% decrease in total reports statewide compared with 2023, while local reporting patterns varied by category and source. He described an 18% statewide decrease in reported hate crimes (from 82 to 67) and a small increase in the number of hate crimes investigated by Eugene police (from 27 to 30). Fabio cautioned that reporting patterns reflect where people choose to file complaints and that some incidents reported to the state are not investigated by police. "It is possible that many of the cases in the Eugene report are also in the DOJ report because people may report to both agencies," he said.
Fabio walked commissioners through group-level changes between 2023 and 2024: Asian-targeted incidents decreased in noncriminal reports (16 to 3) though criminal counts remained steady; Black/African American incidents showed a large drop in the civilian database (from 102 to 14), a change Fabio said may reflect clustering of many reports from a single 2023 incident at an affordable housing site; incidents targeting transgender people rose slightly (5 to 8).
Lieutenant Williams of the Eugene Police Department updated the commission on two recent incidents his unit had investigated: a March report of a person recorded on doorbell footage taking mail and shouting anti-Black slurs near Skinner’s Butte that led to an arrest after detectives identified a suspect; and a separate incident at a Jefferson-area market where a victim was harassed in a parking lot and later identified a suspect whose vehicle and conduct matched surveillance footage. Williams said detectives were able to make arrests in both cases and reflected on learning the local history tied to one address — the Nims house, which he said has significance for the local Black community and the NAACP office.
Commissioners questioned whether the apparent decreases in reporting reflect true reductions in incidents or underreporting due to fear or distrust. Commissioner Booker said the numbers can be misleading if they don’t capture those who choose not to report; other commissioners urged stronger outreach, public service announcements and recruitment of community liaisons to increase reporting and support.
As an immediate step the commission agreed by consensus to pursue a public outreach plan that could include: a June panel revisiting themes from a December community forum with a focus on "reinventing resistance," PSAs and free civic partner outreach, a website banner and social-media content, and targeted recruitment of people from affected groups to participate in affinity panels and commission activities. Commissioners also directed staff to finalize and circulate listening-session findings and a community engagement survey report for next-month consideration.
No new policies were adopted at the meeting; commissioners asked staff for follow-up materials and recommended convening an ad hoc group to draft outreach content and logistics for the June panel.
