Eugene police brief Human Rights Commission on recent hate/bias incidents, signal changes to online reporting

Lieutenant Williams of the Eugene Police Department presented the commission with a summary of recent hate- and bias-related incidents, described how investigators have classified them and explained planned changes to the police department’s online reporting portal for bias incidents.

Williams told the commission about several incidents from February and March, including a March burglary at the Saraha Nyingma Buddhist Institute on East 40th Avenue that involved a thrown rock and some disrupted property; an apparent verbal harassment between neighbors that included anti-gay slurs; a downtown disturbance at DS Market in which an intoxicated customer damaged property and used an anti-gay slur; a reported mail-theft incident with an anti-Black slur; and a noise dispute in an apartment complex where one party alleged they were targeted because they are autistic.

Williams said detectives initially treated some incidents as possibly bias-related but later reclassified them when follow-up indicated other motives, such as intoxication or theft. He said some victims declined formal bias investigations even when slurs were used. For at least one online-only report, Williams said the lack of detail made it difficult for officers to investigate.

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