Chicagoans could soon be able to call 311 to report swastika graffiti, white supremacist pamphlets and other “hate incidents” that can precede violent attacks against people from marginalized groups, under a new plan advanced by a key City Council committee Friday.
The “Chi vs. Hate” ordinance aims to collect reports of disturbing acts that might fall short of a crime, but hint at more troubling actions to come as hate crimes spike in Chicago and beyond.
Tracking those noncriminal incidents — also defined as “derogatory insults; name-calling or gestures; bullying; use of identity- or status-based slurs or pejoratives; verbal online or written abuse and harassment and the placement of hateful or offensive material in public view” — could help police prevent worse instances, according to sponsoring Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th).
“We must stop hate at its roots, and this initiative gives us the tools to do just that,“ Silverstein said before the ordinance was unanimously approved by her colleagues on the Public Safety Committee. “We want to make reporting as easy as possible, ensuring that victims and witnesses have a direct line to share their experiences 24/7 and 365 days a year.”
Silverstein, the Council’s only Jewish member, introduced the ordinance in September as a response to numerous studies showing surges in hate crimes against people in the Black, Jewish, Asian-American and LGBT communities, among others.
Since then, there has been a dramatic uptick in reports of antisemitism and Islamophobia following Hamas’ Oct. 7 ambush on Israel that spurred the war in Gaza.
Throw in ugly reactions to the ongoing housing crisis for Venezuelan migrants bused to Chicago from the southern U.S. border, and the city has run the gamut of bigoted displays as political divisions ratchet up across the nation.
“Clearly, we’ve seen a rise of antisemitism. We’ve seen it in our ward, as far as seeing swastikas come up,” said Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th). “We’ve seen anti-LGBTQ graffiti up as well. We know that with the migrant crisis, it adds another layer for our newest Chicagoans being treated as though they’re not a part of our city.”
The ordinance’s definition of “hate incidents” was tweaked to exclude “free speech expressions protected under the First Amendment, and acts already classified as crimes.”
Reports on hate incidents would be taken by 311 nonemergency operators, and could also be submitted online or on the city’s CHI311 mobile application.
The ordinance also calls for police officers who witness hate incidents to report a description of the incident and contact information for the alleged target and perpetrator to the city’s Commission on Human Relations.
The police department would also be required to “maintain a publicly available online dashboard” of hate incidents and update it on “at least a monthly basis.” The dashboard must include the “date, location, ward number, bias category and offense description” of each hate incident, the ordinance states.
The Human Relations Commission would publish annual reports that include recommendations on how to address problem areas.
“It’s important that we keep accurate tracking of hate incidents...and again, to combat hate of any kind,” Silverstein said.
The ordinance is slated or a full Council vote on Wednesday.
