According to the San Diego Police Department (SDPD), two hate incidences, one involving a firearm, were phoned in over the Labor Day holiday weekend in Hillcrest. The police reported the incidences to the Gay & Lesbian Times in response to an inquiry from the paper about another alleged assault that the paper was tipped off to via an anonymous source. According to the anonymous source, two men were allegedly attacked in the alley behind the Egyptian condominium development project located at the corner of Park Boulevard and University Avenue. The San Diego Police Department does not have a report of the incident; however, they did receive two calls reporting hate incidents close to the time of the alleged attack.

According to the SDPD, the first of the two hate incidences phoned in over Labor Day weekend occurred on Sept. 4 at 11:00 p.m. near the corner of Robinson Avenue and Park Boulevard. According to the person reporting the incident to the SDPD, a gray Honda with a white male and African-American male drove past them yelling out anti-gay epithets while allegedly brandishing a firearm.

The second reported incident occurred an hour later at approximately 12:05 a.m. on Sept. 5. The person reporting the incident described a Hispanic male, approximately 35 years of age, who was making lewd and anti-gay comments at the corner of Park Boulevard and University Avenue.

Neither person chose to file an incident report, but did wish to make police aware of the anti-gay activity in the area. While the Gay & Lesbian Times was made aware of the incident that occurred near the Egyptian construction site, the victims were apparently reluctant to report the assault to the police.

Detective Fred Helm, who handles hate crime investigations for the San Diego Police Department’s Western Division, which includes the Hillcrest, North Park and Mission Hills communities, said that overall the reporting of hate crimes has been down. “I think Hillcrest has been relatively quiet,” said Helm. “I think we’re maybe sitting at two or three [incidences] for the year that are actually being investigated as hate crimes.”

Two years ago almost to the day, a stabbing incident at a Hillcrest coffee shop kicked off a string of assaults that included victims in both Mission Hills and North Park.

“We get a lot of calls that are hate incidences, where somebody will say somebody came by in a car and called them a faggot and threw an egg and kept driving,” Helm said. “We do have a steady number of those coming in, but the ones we investigate to make an arrest I think are cyclic, in that maybe twice a year you will get a little spike.”

When it comes to reporting hate crimes, there are several reasons victims may be reluctant, said Dr. Diane Pendragon, who works in the Mental Health Services Department of The Center. “Some of the big things that come up are, to report a hate crime, you have to out yourself,” said Pendragon. “I think a lot of the time there’s a lot of fear – fears about being believed by the authorities, fears about how they will be treated by the authorities – and I think a lot of people have a reluctance to sort of be telling their business to people. It can be an experience that activates a lot of shame on the part of the victim and they may be reluctant to go and talk about that.”

Helm also said that many victims chose not to come forward because they don’t want to deal with the “burden” of being a victim; however he added that the reporting process for such incidents has been streamlined and he is responsible for investigating all of the hate crimes reported in the Hillcrest area.

“First, we really need to have accurate numbers at the end of the year so we will know if things are increasing, decreasing or staying the same,” Helm said. “Of course, an increase would be the real problem for everybody and we would have to respond to that to try and reduce numbers or squash it all together. The second reason is we would like to put those people who are committing those crimes in jail, especially those people who are traveling to Hillcrest to commit a hate crime in that fashion against that group. Generally, they are a more sophisticated criminal in that they really have some belief issues as opposed to just the random criminal that may get in a verbal altercation coming out of Rich’s or something like that… but the person who goes to the area to commit a crime is the person we would like to arrest and lock up.”

Another option that is available to victims of hate crimes is The Center. At its health services facility, located at the corner of Texas Street and El Cajon Boulevard, counselors are available to help victims of hate crimes who are dealing with emotional stress and issues related to an assault.

“If we have somebody who is coming into ‘on duty’ reporting a hate crime… we access their need for therapy and other resources,” Pendragon said. “We talk to them about hate crimes reporting and we have the forms to help them with that and we usually facilitate a report if the client is feeling comfortable and if they’re not we talk about what are the barriers to that.”

In addition to having on-duty counselors available during business hours, The Center also operates the Heidorn Lifeline, a 24-hour suicide prevention and crisis intervention help line. Victims of hate crimes who do not feel comfortable contacting the police can talk with a GLBT-friendly counselor on the hotline who can then facilitate the reporting of a crime.

“We can only respond to the best information,” Helm said. “We try and investigate all leads, but when we have huge delays in reporting or we miss giant chunks of information because somebody has something that they don’t want to report, it can hurt the case against a person who is seriously injuring people and it can delay the apprehension of someone who is committing these crimes.”

The Center’s public policy department maintains a log of hate crimes and hate incidents to record where these events occur and to ensure that they are handled and investigated properly. To report a hate crime, or to speak with Detective Fred Helm of the SDPD, call (619) 692-4800. Victims of hate crimes can also contact the 24-hour Heidorn Lifeline by dialing (858) 212-5433.