Westchester DA Establishes Hate Crime, Bias Hotline

White Plains NY

16 March, 2021

3:50 PM

Description

WHITE PLAINS, NY — The Westchester County District Attorney's Office announced a new multilingual hotline for the public to report hate crimes or bias incidents. The hotline — 914-995-TIPS (8477) — is also for reporting the victimization of immigrants, elder abuse, wage theft and other labor relations issues, law enforcement misconduct, public corruption and other potential criminal matters. District Attorney Miriam Rocah said the hotline is available around the clock in English, Spanish and Mandarin and will automatically notify her office when calls come in. Additional languages will be added in the coming weeks. "If you have an emergency or you need immediate assistance, you should call 911 or your local police department," she said. "However, our new hotline is another option to let investigators know if you have been a victim of a crime, witnessed a crime or have a tip about investigating a crime." Experienced coordinators have been designated for each hotline area, and a member of the DA's investigative team will follow up on all tips and complaints received. The immigration affairs hotline calls will be handled by immigration affairs Coordinator Saad Siddiqui, who joined the DA's office last week. Previously he was senior assistant county attorney at the Westchester County Department of Law. Rocah's office has also launched a series of promotional videos to promote the hotlines on social media and on-line.