Washington D.C. – June 6, 2013: The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF), the nation’s oldest Sikh American civil rights and advocacy organization, applauds the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Advisory Policy Board (APB) for their decision to approve the recommendation of tracking and reporting hate crimes committed against Sikhs, Arabs and Hindus. “We welcome this decision from the APB to separately track and report hate crimes against the Sikh, Arab and Hindu American communities,” said SALDEF Executive Director Jasjit Singh. “Our communities have disproportionately faced senseless violence motivated by hate in recent years. We look forward to continuing our work with the FBI and to provide them with the resources and training necessary to ensure accurate reporting of hate crimes committed against Sikhs.” SALDEF first approached the FBI in 2010 requesting the inclusion of Sikhs in their hate crime reporting form and continued advocating for this change in meetings with congressional leaders and local and federal law enforcement leaders, through our work in civil rights coalitions, and with FBI Director Mueller himself. The new FBI hate crime reporting form incorporating Sikh, Arab and Hindu categories will be implemented in 2015. SALDEF will work with the FBI to ensure effective implementation of these recommendations and also continue to offer services such as cultural competency training through its Law Enforcement Partnership Program (LEPP) to ensure law enforcement officers are able to effectively utilize the updated form. SALDEF would like to recognize the support of the Congresswoman Judy Chu and Congressman David Valado and the entire American Sikh Congressional Caucus, the tireless efforts and leadership of our colleagues at the Sikh Coalition, Anti-Defamation League (ADL), UNITED SIKHS, Groundswell and South Asians Americans Leading Together (SAALT), for working to get this policy change completed.
