Salem police report five June bias incidents including assault and alleged anti‑LGBTQ hit‑and‑run

Sergeant Robert Dowd, the Salem Police Department’s liaison to the Human Rights Commission, told commissioners the department documented five bias‑related incidents across June, including assaults and harassment directed at people because of race, national origin and gender identity.

“On June 13 in Northeast Salem there was an assault based on race and national origin,” Dowd said, describing a report from a Hispanic man who he said was approached, struck with thrown rocks, scratched repeatedly and subjected to racial slurs. “The victim sustained multiple bleeding scratches and reported significant pain.” Dowd said the suspect in that case was arrested and charged; other incidents did not result in arrests.

Dowd listed subsequent incidents on June 16 and June 17 that involved derogatory language about national origin and transphobic slurs, respectively, an incident on June 20 in which a visitor of Native Alaskan heritage was threatened with racial slurs, and a June 28 late‑night episode in which a skateboarder was struck from behind in what officers treated as a possible bias‑motivated hit‑and‑run that included anti‑LGBTQ slurs.

Some cases were closed after victims declined to pursue charges, Dowd said, and others remain inactive or under investigation because officers have not yet identified suspects from video evidence. “We went out and tried to look at Ring doorbell cameras, footage from a local convenience store and traffic cameras,” he said, adding investigators have not yet located a suspect vehicle in the hit‑and‑run.

Commissioners pressed for clarity on whether incidents reflected a pattern. Dowd said officers saw similar descriptions of a possible suspect in one case and conducted a photo lineup, but the victim did not identify the person officers suspected; in other matters, he said, suspects appeared to be different individuals with differing motivations.

School board director Mel Fuller, who represents parts of Northeast Salem, asked whether the police log covered city limits only; staff confirmed the report reflected incidents Salem Police took reports on and did not include incidents outside city jurisdiction. Commissioners also asked whether bias incidents increased during summer months; Dowd said overall violence can rise in summer but bias incidents do not consistently spike in the season.

The commission did not take formal action at the meeting. Dowd said the department shares advocacy information with complainants when appropriate and continues investigative work in cases where identification remains unresolved.