The Seattle Police Department warned that a recent uptick in home robberies invading south Seattle neighborhoods is predominantly targeting Asian households, KOMO News reported.
Since June, there have been 14 reported incidents in south Seattle with Asian families mostly the targets of these home invasions.
“They’re going after people they think are easy targets,” said SPD Sergeant Lt. John O’Neil in a press conference on Tuesday.
Police suspect the same group of three to seven people to have been robbing people outside or inside their homes of their money and valuables.
However, they do not believe these incidents to be hate crimes.
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“We want to emphasize that we are not considering these hate crimes,” O’Neil said. “They’re targeting vulnerable adults in our community.”
Yet, these incidents are not new.
In 2016, several robberies targeting Asian American families in Beacon Hill were also reported to the police, according to KUOW Public Radio. Seattle Police pointed out that the targeted households had large quantities of cash on hand.
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has described the recent rise of home robberies as “unacceptable,” and called on the recruitment of new police officers to address the staffing shortage in the Seattle Police Department.
“I hope that our City Council understands the need for strong public safety in all these areas as well,” Harrell told KUOW Public Radio.
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