LGBT Network announces new hotline to report hate crimes
Robert Vitelli, CEO of the LGBT Network, at a news conference in Hauppauge as the network, on the eve of National Coming Out Day, announced a new hate crime hotline. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
The LGBT Network announced a new hotline for the LGBTQ community on Long Island and in New York City to report hate crimes, set to launch Wednesday on National Coming Out Day.
"This new hotline and service for LGBT hate crime victims will provide free and confidential support and information for LGBT people who have experienced hate crimes or at risk of experiencing hate crimes," said David Kilmnick, founder and president of the Hauppauge-based LGBT Network.
"We will provide a personal advocate who will assist the victims of the hate crime from beginning to end. So from the initial phone call to our hotline to helping them report it to the police, to the follow-up services and support needed," Kilmnick said. "They will not go through this alone and they will not be re-victimized in any sense. The advocate will help to coordinate and collaborate with the Suffolk County Police Department."
Kilmnick said the toll-free hotline number — 888-LGBTHLP or 888-542-8457 — would be "up and running" Wednesday, recognized as National Coming Out Day, an annual LGBTQ awareness day.
He said even while national statistics show hate crimes against LGBTQ residents have increased 6.8% from 2019 to 2021, when there were 1,110 reported hate crimes, according to FBI statistics, he believed hate crimes against the LGBTQ community often go unreported, a point echoed by Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison. Harrison and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone joined Kilmnick at the hotline announcement.
There were 56 anti-LGBTQ hate crime incidents against persons or property reported in New York State in 2020 and 137 in 2021, according to the state's Criminal Justice Research Report released last December.
In Nassau, there were two reported anti-LGBTQ hate crime incidents in 2020 and three in 2021. In Suffolk, one hate crime incident was reported in 2020 and six the following year, according to data from the state Department of Criminal Justice Services.
Harrison said in an interview there were 12 reported "hate crimes or hate incidents" against LGBTQ community members, with four arrests, so far this year in the 10 towns in the county that are within the department's jurisdiction. The statistic does not include the five East End towns, which are covered by other police departments, Harrison noted. "I believe that our numbers are higher than that … but just not reported to us," Harrison added.
That's why Harrison praised the addition of the LGBT Network's hotline.
"This new hotline, I think, will be beneficial to get people to understand that no incident or crime is too small. And we need for people to feel comfortable to come forward so we can do what we have to do on our end to do an appropriate investigation."
Harrison said the police department established its own hotline for reporting hate crimes earlier this year — 631-852-HATE. He said he welcomed the LGBT Network's hotline, noting that some people might be reluctant to report an incident directly to the police, or think it's not important enough to report.
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