Volunteers take to streets to form patrols after anti-Asian attacks

FLUSHING, NY – Before sunset Monday, a few dozen Asian Americans in neon vests and jackets roamed the streets of this New York neighborhood.

They weren’t policemen. They were students, traders and retirees equipped with little more than a cell phone in case they encountered someone being harassed or attacked. Their mission: to prevent potential abusers from harming other Asians, whether by calling the police for help or intervening themselves.

“It made me sick,” volunteer Wan Chen, 37, said of the increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in the country. “So this is the time we need to speak up and do our best to help. If anyone tries to do anything, maybe they’ll think twice.

Volunteer groups like this have sprung up in the United States, patrolling the streets of Asian communities from New York to Oakland, California. They have several objectives: to escort people concerned for their safety to where they need to go, to register with the member community and, if necessary, to intervene if they see someone being harassed.

Cities across the country have seen an increase in hate crimes against Asians since the start of the pandemic. An analysis by researchers at California State University, San Bernardino, found that hate crimes targeting Asians in 16 of America’s largest cities increased 149% between 2019 and 2020. During the same period, reports Overall hate crimes fell by 7%, the researchers found.