‘Safe Olympia’ program aims to tackle hate crimes against LGBTQ community

While many tout Olympia as a city that welcomes members of the LGBTQ community, Olympia Police Department officials still worry that hate crimes against the community are largely underreported.

“Over the years, there hasn’t been a sense of safety and confidence when it comes to reporting,” said Chief Ronnie Roberts. “But we’re working to change that.”

Over the course of 2015, the police have instituted a series of changes to make the department more welcoming to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer population.

Roberts said these changes are largely due to the work of Sgt. Ren Emerson, who was appointed as the city’s LGBTQ liaison in January.

Her latest project is Safe Olympia, a program that designates downtown businesses as places of refuge for people who have been victims of hate crimes.

“We’re committed to the LGBTQ community and helping them when there’s an assault or hate crime occurring,” Emerson said. “I think that historically there’s been a gap between the LGBTQ community and the police department. We’re trying to bridge that.”

While Safe Olympia was designed specifically to help LGBTQ victims of hate crimes, anyone who has been threatened or victimized is welcome to take shelter in the designated businesses, said jail manager Chandra Brady, who has been helping Emerson get the program off the ground.

“This extends to victims of any hate crime, and to victims who weren’t necessarily involved in hate crimes,” Brady said.

Over the past few weeks, Emerson and Brady have been hitting the pavement downtown, asking businesses to participate in the program. It’s voluntary, but Emerson said there has been a lot of interest so far.

When businesses sign up for the program, Emerson and Brady apply colorful stickers to their front windows, letting people know that the business is participating in Safe Olympia.

Once the sticker is applied, Emerson said the businesses have committed to providing a haven where victims of hate crimes can wait for police. She told business owners to call 911 on behalf of the victims no matter what.

“Sometimes (the victims) won’t want to call,” Emerson said. “But we can’t help if we don’t know about the hate crimes.”

Business owners are required to train their employees about what to do if someone is seeking refuge.

Compass Rose and Captain Little owner Paul Shepherd is one of the early supporters of the program. He signed up Aug. 27.

“I really appreciate what they’re trying to do,” Shepherd said. “Police can either put up barriers or take them down. I think this is them taking down barriers.”

Bar Francis Espresso and Coffee at 110 Franklin St. NE signed up the same day. Employee Heather “Fraoigh” Howard said downtown cafes tend to be refuges for the LGBTQ community anyway, so it’s nice to have an official program in place.

“It’s amazing; it’s so cool to have this in Olympia,” Howard said.

Safe Olympia is modeled after a similar Seattle Police Department program, called Safe Place. Officer Jim Ritter, Seattle’s LGBTQ liaison, launched his department’s program in May.

So far, more than 600 Seattle businesses have signed on, and about 100 more are on the waiting list.

“We’ve had a huge interest,” Ritter said. “I can’t hand out the stickers fast enough.”

And the Seattle Police Department already has seen results, he said. Several hate crimes have been reported since the program started.

Ritter said he’s been contacted by officers from police departments throughout the United States who hope to start their own version of Safe Place.

He said that many of the departments he’s talked to, including Olympia, don’t have a large number of reported hate crimes.

“It’s really about the message,” Ritter said. “It’s a message of inclusion.”

Olympia Lt. Paul Lower said that only three hate crimes — defined by state law as a crime committed based on perception of the victim’s race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or mental, physical, or sensory handicap — have been reported in Olympia in the past two years.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re not happening.

“We worry that they are happening, but they’re just not being reported,” Lower said. “We’re hoping to fix that.”

This story was originally published September 4, 2015 at 5:28 PM with the headline "‘Safe Olympia’ program aims to tackle hate crimes against LGBTQ community."