Per Rockville Police: “The Rockville City Police Department (RCPD) recognizes that we are living in turbulent times across the country and the globe. All acts of hatred, bias, and bigotry are unacceptable. A hate crime is any crime motivated in whole or in part by bias, prejudice, or bigotry; however, as despicable as it may be, not all hate is a crime. A hate incident is often involving a person making non-threatening bigoted, biased, or prejudiced comments to another individual based on race, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, or other personal characteristics. It also can involve a person displaying a non-threatening, bigoted, biased, or prejudiced message or image in certain contexts. Although deeply hurtful and offensive, hate incidents do not violate criminal law.
What to Do if You Believe that You are the Victim of, or Witness a Hate Crime or Bias-Related Incident…REPORT IT! Dial 9-1-1 in an emergency. In a non-emergency, dial 240-314-8900 to contact the Rockville City Police. For your own safety do not take it upon yourself to confront perpetrators. Do not clean up or destroy any evidence related to the crime until after the police arrive and investigate. Ask the police what services are available to you.
The Rockville City Police Department investigates and collects data on both hate crimes and bias-related incidents. If you are a victim of an incident that occurred in Rockville, please notify the Rockville City Police Department at 240-314-8900. If the incident occurred in another jurisdiction, please contact the local police department in that jurisdiction.
REMEMBER – IF YOU SEE SOMETHING, SAY SOMETHING. Click this link to learn more about what constitutes a hate crime under Maryland law and the penalties: https://www.rockvillemd.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=2098