Call-To-Action: “Hate Has No Place” in Richmond

Media Release issued with the Richmond RCMP

22 August 2022

The City of Richmond and Richmond RCMP are launching a call-to-action to ensure that the City continues to be a safe and welcoming community. In 2020 and again last year, Richmond City Council declared, Racial and discriminatory actions have no place in Richmond, and they have no place in our society. At the same time, Richmond RCMP declared that Hate has no place in our community, and pledged that all reported incidents involving hate motivated undertones would receive full attention and oversight.

Today, Richmond RCMP and the City of Richmond are going a step further by calling upon members of the community to get more involved. They are calling on victims and witnesses to report racially motivated incidents directly to police as they occur.

Officer-in-Charge of the Richmond RCMP, Chief Superintendent Dave Chauhan says All too often we are learning of hate-motivated incidents through second-hand reports in the news and on social media. But in order for our investigators to give these allegations the fulsome attention they deserve, we need to speak directly to victims and witnesses. We need people to come forward to police in the first instance, says Chief Superintendent Chauhan.

City of Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie echoes this call-to-action saying, Racial and discriminatory action have no place in Richmond nor in our society, and they will not be tolerated. Unfortunately, such attitudes exist and are in direct contradiction to the spirit of inclusion we uphold. I urge residents to stand together to address and condemn all forms of discrimination and racism. If you experience or witness a hate incident, do not hesitate to contact the RCMP.

Mayor Brodie adds, In 2019, Richmond was one of the first cities to adopt a Cultural Harmony Plan and we have been working diligently with community partners to deliver programs and initiatives to build meaningful bridges amongst cultures and reduce barriers to participation. We also appreciate the work of the Richmond Resilience BC Committee and other community organizations, in developing and launching the Richmond Community Protocol this past spring, which offers mechanisms and supports for the public and community to respond to hate and racist incidents.

Richmond RCMP recognizes that in some instances ‘hate incidents’ do not involve a criminal offense or meet the definition of a ‘hate crime’ under the Criminal Code. A racist, homophobic or other abhorrent comment, or a rant to a stranger, are examples of this. Although this may not meet the threshold of a criminal offense, this type of behaviour has a negative effect on our community, and it needs to stop! To this end, Richmond RCMP will continue to conduct fulsome investigations on these matters, seeking to understand the root cause of this behaviour and engaging appropriate community partners, if required.

Residents will soon begin seeing posters in City of Richmond facilities, such as libraries, community centres, and other highly visible locations. These posters will remind people that Hate Has No Place in Richmond, and will encourage victims and witnesses to report hate incidents to police directly.

By learning of these incidents as they occur, and by speaking directly to the victims and witnesses, our investigators will able to act more quickly in efforts to stop this harmful behaviour in our community, says Chief Superintendent Chauhan.

Hate has no place in Richmond.

Richmond RCMP non-emergency: 604-278-1212
Richmond RCMP emergency: 9-1-1
Vancouver Coastal Health (mental health support): 604-204-1111 or vch.ca/richmondmentalhealth
Crime Stoppers (to remain anonymous): 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or bccrimestoppers.com