Antisemitism and other hate-filled activities are all too common in the US and around the world.
Education and outreach about Jewish religious traditions and culture is an effective way to combat ignorance that can lead to stereotyping and antisemitism. Such communication is a priority for the JCC-Federation of SLO and is incorporated into our activities including the Jewish Film Festival, Festival of Jewish Learning, Camp Shoreshim, Hanukkah Downtown, Jewish Family Services and even Brent’s Deli Days.
Due to recent local and international events, the JCC asked Rick Scott, Police Chief of San Luis Obispo, and Dan Meisel, Director of the Anti-Defamation League in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties to provide practical information about responding to incidents of discrimination and outline steps for reducing their occurrence in the future.
Both of these community leaders were kind enough to share some ideas. Their insight, knowledge and perspective are invaluable and provide guidance and resources for confronting a seemingly intractable problem.
Please read on.
Rich Namm
President, JCC-Federation of SLO
Education and outreach about Jewish religious traditions and culture is an effective way to combat ignorance that can lead to stereotyping and antisemitism. Such communication is a priority for the JCC-Federation of SLO and is incorporated into our activities including the Jewish Film Festival, Festival of Jewish Learning, Camp Shoreshim, Hanukkah Downtown, Jewish Family Services and even Brent’s Deli Days.
Due to recent local and international events, the JCC asked Rick Scott, Police Chief of San Luis Obispo, and Dan Meisel, Director of the Anti-Defamation League in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties to provide practical information about responding to incidents of discrimination and outline steps for reducing their occurrence in the future.
Both of these community leaders were kind enough to share some ideas. Their insight, knowledge and perspective are invaluable and provide guidance and resources for confronting a seemingly intractable problem.
Please read on.
Rich Namm
President, JCC-Federation of SLO
Statement from Rick Scott, Chief of Police, San Luis Obispo Police Department
Providing a safe, secure, and welcoming San Luis Obispo community for all is the purpose of the San Luis Obispo Police Department and the focus of my responsibility as the Chief of Police. San Luis Obispo Police Department engages with a wide variety of groups to build relationships and thus build community. The Police Advisory Committee (PAC) was formed in 2017 to provide voice to historically marginalized community groups with the Police Department, focused on engagement and education. PAC meets bi-monthly for discussion topics ranging from policy and procedure to crime data to recruitment and retention of police staff. SLOPD also engages with the Police Roundtable, established in 2015, which is comprised of a variety of community members and business representatives. Similar to PAC, the Roundtable provides feedback to the Police Department on policy matters and current topics.
SLOPD staff serve on the Growing Together Fund, the Lumina Alliance Board, the Student Community Liaison Committee, the Downtown SLO business and bar owner committee, and others to continuously seek any opportunity to engage with formal and informational organizations in the community to build trust and promote positive relationships.
Hate anywhere must never be accepted or tolerated. When any community member experiences hate, it affects us all and deeply damages our sense of community and safety. I am proud of the work SLOPD is doing in an effort to prevent hate and to empower community members to take action to restore hope. I continuously promote “if you see something, say something, and do something” and this could never be truer when talking about hate crimes and expressions. Should you or someone you know experience a hate-based incident, the information should be reported directly to SLOPD via our dispatch center. If the incident is violent in nature, we want people to call 911. If the incident is non-violent, such as the discovery of property damage with graffiti hate speech, we want people to call the non-emergency line 805-781-7312.
Last month, after receiving thoughtful feedback from our community partners, we have now created a place for people to report hate incidents or hate crimes who wish to remain anonymous. This online form can be found on our website and can also be used by someone reporting a hate incident on behalf of someone else. We know that reporting information is often uncomfortable, but our hope is that this improved format may provide a softer interface for people in need of help but anxious about reporting.
-Rick Scott, Chief of Police San Luis Obispo Police Department
https://www.slocity.org/government/department-directory/police-department/hate-incident-hate-crime-reporting
California Assembly Bill 485, adopted in 2022 and effective January 1, 2023, requires law enforcement agencies to post reported hate crimes on the agency website. At the conclusion of every month, our Records division compiles and provides the data and it is posted for the public.
https://www.slocity.org/government/department-directory/hate-crime-data-ab-485
SLOPD staff serve on the Growing Together Fund, the Lumina Alliance Board, the Student Community Liaison Committee, the Downtown SLO business and bar owner committee, and others to continuously seek any opportunity to engage with formal and informational organizations in the community to build trust and promote positive relationships.
Hate anywhere must never be accepted or tolerated. When any community member experiences hate, it affects us all and deeply damages our sense of community and safety. I am proud of the work SLOPD is doing in an effort to prevent hate and to empower community members to take action to restore hope. I continuously promote “if you see something, say something, and do something” and this could never be truer when talking about hate crimes and expressions. Should you or someone you know experience a hate-based incident, the information should be reported directly to SLOPD via our dispatch center. If the incident is violent in nature, we want people to call 911. If the incident is non-violent, such as the discovery of property damage with graffiti hate speech, we want people to call the non-emergency line 805-781-7312.
Last month, after receiving thoughtful feedback from our community partners, we have now created a place for people to report hate incidents or hate crimes who wish to remain anonymous. This online form can be found on our website and can also be used by someone reporting a hate incident on behalf of someone else. We know that reporting information is often uncomfortable, but our hope is that this improved format may provide a softer interface for people in need of help but anxious about reporting.
-Rick Scott, Chief of Police San Luis Obispo Police Department
https://www.slocity.org/government/department-directory/police-department/hate-incident-hate-crime-reporting
California Assembly Bill 485, adopted in 2022 and effective January 1, 2023, requires law enforcement agencies to post reported hate crimes on the agency website. At the conclusion of every month, our Records division compiles and provides the data and it is posted for the public.
https://www.slocity.org/government/department-directory/hate-crime-data-ab-485
Statement from Dan Meisel, Regional Director of ADL Santa Barbara and Tri-Counties
Many San Luis Obispo County residents may be wondering what they can or should do in response to the recent racist banner hangs in Templeton or the virulently antisemitic and anti-LGBTQ+ flyers distributed in Paso Robles.
The best response to hate is a combination of communal condemnation and meaningful engagement. Condemnation by community leaders and non-targeted groups is an important way to express support for those targeted by bigotry and to reinforce community values that reject bigotry. It is possible to cover and condemn such incidents without showing pictures or otherwise amplifying the message or messenger. Meaningful engagement involves the many different ways communities can work to prevent bigotry from spreading, even if it continues in the form of hateful but protected free speech.
Defining meaningful engagement often depends on the facts of an incident, but there are some common measures in instances like those mentioned above. Reporting the incidents to organizations that track and respond to them helps raise awareness of troubling actors and trends, connects victims with support services, and enables widespread condemnation. ADL has an incident report form on its website (adl.org), the SLO Police Department has an online form for hate incidents in its jurisdiction, and California just launched an online phone and reporting system as well. Providing information that may assist identification of the perpetrators, even if the conduct is not criminal, can assist monitoring of extremist activity for threats or other concerning conduct.
In the case of antisemitic hate, meaningful engagement often focuses educating others about the Jewish community and antisemitism. Impressionable audiences need to learn that Judaism is more than a religion -- it is a culture, an ethnicity, a shared heritage connected to a specific land, and it can be perceived as a “race” by antisemites. Understanding Judaism helps others better understand antisemitism, which rarely focuses on Jewish religious practice. Instead, it typically manifests in false tropes portraying Jews as both inferior and all powerful in order to serve the perpetrator’s political or social agenda. ADL provides presentations about Judaism and antisemitism, as do other Jewish organizations, for community groups, school districts, and workplaces.
We also counter antisemitism when addressing bigotry and bias in educational programming about personal identity, how it impacts our view of others, and the damage we do when we disrespect or exclude others based on immutable elements of their identities. ADL provides professional development for educators about creating inclusive school environments and responding to bias incidents, as well as peer leadership workshops for middle and high school students. Schools can register for ADL’s No Place for Hate framework -- a school-directed program involving schoolwide activities. ADL also provides training and resources for middle and high school educators who teach about the Holocaust, which ADL recently reported reduces antisemitic attitudes. ADL’s website has a host of resources for understanding antisemitism and hate, as well as discussing these topics in the classroom and around the dinner table.
We also encourage community members to seek opportunities to share their personal experiences with others from different backgrounds to help recognize common values and narrow political divides. Some of our volunteer leaders are hosting dinners with a diverse group of guests who do not know each other through our recently revived “Sharing Bread and Breaking Barriers” initiative.
Contact us at [email protected] or 805-564-6670 with questions or to learn more about ADL resources and programming.
The best response to hate is a combination of communal condemnation and meaningful engagement. Condemnation by community leaders and non-targeted groups is an important way to express support for those targeted by bigotry and to reinforce community values that reject bigotry. It is possible to cover and condemn such incidents without showing pictures or otherwise amplifying the message or messenger. Meaningful engagement involves the many different ways communities can work to prevent bigotry from spreading, even if it continues in the form of hateful but protected free speech.
Defining meaningful engagement often depends on the facts of an incident, but there are some common measures in instances like those mentioned above. Reporting the incidents to organizations that track and respond to them helps raise awareness of troubling actors and trends, connects victims with support services, and enables widespread condemnation. ADL has an incident report form on its website (adl.org), the SLO Police Department has an online form for hate incidents in its jurisdiction, and California just launched an online phone and reporting system as well. Providing information that may assist identification of the perpetrators, even if the conduct is not criminal, can assist monitoring of extremist activity for threats or other concerning conduct.
In the case of antisemitic hate, meaningful engagement often focuses educating others about the Jewish community and antisemitism. Impressionable audiences need to learn that Judaism is more than a religion -- it is a culture, an ethnicity, a shared heritage connected to a specific land, and it can be perceived as a “race” by antisemites. Understanding Judaism helps others better understand antisemitism, which rarely focuses on Jewish religious practice. Instead, it typically manifests in false tropes portraying Jews as both inferior and all powerful in order to serve the perpetrator’s political or social agenda. ADL provides presentations about Judaism and antisemitism, as do other Jewish organizations, for community groups, school districts, and workplaces.
We also counter antisemitism when addressing bigotry and bias in educational programming about personal identity, how it impacts our view of others, and the damage we do when we disrespect or exclude others based on immutable elements of their identities. ADL provides professional development for educators about creating inclusive school environments and responding to bias incidents, as well as peer leadership workshops for middle and high school students. Schools can register for ADL’s No Place for Hate framework -- a school-directed program involving schoolwide activities. ADL also provides training and resources for middle and high school educators who teach about the Holocaust, which ADL recently reported reduces antisemitic attitudes. ADL’s website has a host of resources for understanding antisemitism and hate, as well as discussing these topics in the classroom and around the dinner table.
We also encourage community members to seek opportunities to share their personal experiences with others from different backgrounds to help recognize common values and narrow political divides. Some of our volunteer leaders are hosting dinners with a diverse group of guests who do not know each other through our recently revived “Sharing Bread and Breaking Barriers” initiative.
Contact us at [email protected] or 805-564-6670 with questions or to learn more about ADL resources and programming.