>> stop the press conference and i'm amy chung and for the elderly and lady senior housing is one of our project build and open in 1990.

upon so upstairs 85 seniors and this year, mayor, david and brook and they are happy. some of them came down this morning and be with this press conference we know you have a very important announcement to make. welcome to self help and the lady shore senior housing. i want to take this opportunity to thank mayor and thank all of our elected officials while supporting the seniors during the pandemic. you know this self help is concern body our senior safety. so00 mayor when you announce the tax on the asian community, and when the self help for elderly need in order it protect our seniors, i remember this we were at square and asked the mayor to please, give us 30 thousand dollars to jump start a senior project. and the mayor did.

almost over night. committed the money to us. we hire 2 senior escort people to bring the seniors to doctor appointments and banks. to come out for fresh air. mayor, thank you so much for supporting this project. from the may of 21 when we started the program to january 19, my staff have now served 1437 seniors and totally brought out 19, 455 escourt this is is a necessary program and thank you, mayor. at this time i will turn the program to david chuor city attorney. thank you very much for raul of our guests to attends today's press conference. >> a hand to amy chung!

thank you for everything you are doing it is grit on have our seniors with us and want to take a moment and thank self help taking care of families, seniors approximate protect them. i want to thank everyone for gathering today for the announcement how our city respondeds to hate crime there is has been communities that reflect the diversity of the world who experienced hate and violence. and we then and there is trough for ap i communities. with lunar new iary upon us we need to remain vigilant about antiasian violence this saturday we mark the 2 year anniversary of the brutal death of [inaudible] last week in an eerily similar attack involving an asian elderly man walking with a came south of market in the morning.

visiting his daughter's home who was brutally pushed to the ground. last week a few days after the newest art's center was opened. the square was defaced. a few weeks ago a woman was kicked in the stomach boarding a muni bus the violence against our communities still persist. now, san francisco has seen a decrease in reported hate incidents during the pedestrian year. but we are here because we know our work is not done. we know we need to come together to ensure that everyone in our communities are safe. and we need to make sure the community understands all that we are doing together. between our city, agencies and community organizations to keep us safe during this lunar now year build and w by everyone here to address what has been a

spike of hate motivated violence that started at the beginning of the pandemic. fuelled by racist zebo by lead ergs. i want to thank organizations doing work on the grounds. self help. chinese new comers and chinese sick companies. and of course, the ap counsel, stop hate as well as a new generation of great organizations including asians are strong, stand with asians and dear community. they worked hard with city leaders to increase services to victims and identify gaps in our city's response to hate crimes. this topic was the focus of a lawsuit filed against our city last year. labors the city and county of san francisco. which victims are served and

procedures instituted to protect our community. >> i want to thank the alliance for asian american justice and my deputy city attorney for working to resolve this case and recognize mr. lei with us today. >> today's announce am stems out of all of these conversations. the 3 public officials who will speak head up an office or administration that worked this past year in conversations with my office on how we can initiate programs, bolster resources and coordinate responses boy city agencies and commune organizations to hate incidents. i will rescue noise and ask to come to the podium someone who needs no introduction but when i was in the legislator, during that spike of antiasian violence before i new i was going to be your city attorney for 2 years, almost every time we spoke, this woman asked me, david, what more

san francisco and california going to do around antiasian hate. she is the 45th mayor of our great city. mayor london breed. [applause]. >> thank you. david chu and thank you for your work and advocacy on this issue and working in partnership with my office. the da's office and the san francisco police department. you know, when you see these incidentses occur on video, i know that in many communities, not just our asian community, it really hurts. and it touches people's heart and soul in a different way. as david mentioned there are alegality of asian organizations that have stepped and up done extraordinary work. i want to acknowledge the cross cultural rep this continueless to help bridge that gap and bring communities together. and we have street violence

intervention programs here which has been instrumental in helping to deal with a lot of the violence in the city. especially challenges around retaliation. we appreciate their work with sarah juan and cyc and how they come together to be the eyes and ears and ambassadors on the streets to take care of our seniors. thank you roberto hernandez from the mission and demonstratingior love and support for this community. when we say in san francisco is you come for one of us you come for all of us. we will band together it make sure this we support communities no matter what the issue is. and especially involving our seniors. you know, it has been unfortunate that over the years, there was a disconnect for victim services. in fact, we saw a lot of other

people's rights were being honored more than the people who were actually impacted by the violence that occurred against them. and i understand there needs to be balance and fairness and justice in our criminal justice system. but victims should in the be retraumatized over and over. go to this discipline this nonprofit and this person whochlt is here to advocate for them? had is here to hold people's hands and to help them through the most challenging time whether someone is a victim of violent crime. domestic violence. gun violence and i want to take a moment she is in the here but acknowledge the work of lynne west low putting our heart on the line to help victims regular low. there are so many different departments and agencies will and part of what we are here today is to say we are working

together so this we collaborate to provide a better stream lining process so when a victim is in need of services, they get the services they need. they get the support they need. they get the nonprofit appropriate for the issue this occurs. now many of the voters approve prop d. supervisor stefani spearheaded the initiative to create a department of victim service. and our goal is to make sure we are speaking with one voice to address these challenges. working clantive not pointing the if anything are but clantive with the da's office and the police department so that we can really focus time and attention on listening to what the victims are dealing with and to be aggressive advocates to fight for them. and that is what this is b. also we have to been more creative

way and programs this will help support people. amy chung talk about theed escort program. a mall dollar amount to provide someone who can be with a senior to run errandleds. picking up medicine, grocery shopping or having someone so they feel safe. some of the, programs we provides are education classes

around banking. we want to make sure that people feel they don't have to carry carbwith them. looking at solutions to help address challenges of this nature. also, providing couchers if people don't feel safe on one mode of transportation this they have alternative modes of transportation so they get around the city. so we are investing in various programes and the great nonprofits we work with to deliver those services are the ones with boots on grounds not with just paid staff. there are so many amazing mobile homes here who have stepped up to provide support to many of our senior in san francisco who don't feel safe and also i want to express my appreciation to the san francisco police department. and those who continue to put themselves on the line to be proactive and engaged with the community and know the community and work with community based organizations. so that we prevent crime in the first accomplice. when a crime happens they are really on the frontline addressing the challenges and trying to make sure that the victims of the crimes get the justice that they deserve so it does not happen to other people. there are a lot of pieces to this puzzle. when you walk away with today is this our different agencies who support not only criminal justice reform, support pushing to prevent crimes in the first

place, but we support this after hose lines are cross thered is a coordinated response to get to the bottom of the situation so that people are held acounsel abltd and victims feel as though justice was served and get the support and service they need to feel safe in san francisco. that is the goal that is why i'm excited be here today and i want to thank you for your support of the community. after what we saw, on television what happened in monterey park and in half moon bay, it is rocked this community here. in san francisco, our asian community, to the core. as we come in the year of the rabbit which represented kindness and mercy we need that now to really make a difference in our communities and leadership of the city is definitely committed to doing that. i want to wish all of you a

happy lunar new year because yes this , is i challenging topic and yes, we gotta continue to be vigilent and provide the services and support we need. but we also will not let it take away from celebrating the extraordinary community during lunar new year. >> thank you all for being here today and with that i want to turn it over to our district attorney, brook jenkins. good morning e everyone i will give this fire engine a chance to pull up here. i'm here because the city thought we needed to make sure our residents are taken care of. to develop a coordinated

response when a crime occurs the types of crimes we have been seeing. that have been targeted toward the asian community in san francisco. we stand today with the a ap i community that has been hurt and deeply impacted by asian hate and other violence that targeted this community. 91 of us regardless of race or ageef hasment today see the videos the mayor mentioned. >> our asian elders attacked on the streets. to hear the stories over and over that they no longer feel safe going to the grocery store. riding the bus to china town to run erands or to go to medical appointments. >> i want to start by thanking ani chung and the other community partners for being here today. and for being willing to work with us. on key issues.

i want to express appreciation to those who are standing with me today. mayor breed, of course, for leading this charge. city attorney david chu as well as chief scott. each us, i know, are committed to working together to ensure our a ap i community members are safe and that their businesses are protected. we all than again, over the last 2-1/2-3 years we have had significant attacks on this community. and realize we have i language way to go after seeing the events in monterey park and half moon bay. we must use the events as an opportunity to work together to a leaveiate fears and show our support when violence occurs, especially in incidentses where

hate was the reason. i want to be sure our community members in san francisco and the bay area the san francisco da's office takes crimes against asian americans seriously and hate crime in the city will not be tolerated. >> i worked as the hate crime prosecutor in san francisco. i know specifically that the impact the crimes have on our victims and on the over all community. when something like that happens. i also deeply believe that those perpetrators of hate crimes have to be held to answer for those crimes. since taking over i start a new unit focusing on victims including elders that also handle hate crimes. this team of attorneys and support staff will practice cute hate where evidence supports and makes sure we are doing more for

the elder low community in san francisco that has become the target of violent acts. i'm proud to announce my vehicle services crafted an information fly they're consolidated resources and information for hate crime victims. >> this form will be translate in the different languages and our goal is this noticer will inform residents of how my office can assist with filing a police department, provide support during the court process and link victims with community organizations and counselling services after something happens. additionally, the division in the da's office has a new process of collaboration in relation to a ap i hate crimes. >> we all then and there is a city of tremendous resources. and that we have community based organizations all over the city who are dedicated to the mission of serving our residents when we

had to do was make sure we were coordinating efforts. that we were aligning with the mission of providing services to victims in a way that was more efficient and less onerous and better than some to the victims of crime. partnership will ensure victims get response and services from my office. we must uplift voices within our a ap i community to better understand their lived experiences and take their stories in account when we are drafting policy and creating new programs and services. while it is great that our city special honorable our city came together to make sure we had escort services to prevent attacks on the elder low community. i will not be complatant or satisfied with the fact we have an elderly community this feels it has to have an escort service

to go to the bank or appointment. we as law enforcement in the city are dedicated to making sure we get to the point upon where that is no longer the case. where no matter what you look like or community you live in you can walk outside your door and feel safe. i want to announce today that as a part of this effort we are partnering with the mayor's office with city attorney chu and the police department to credit a city summit we will host in the coming months to focus on providing more information arnold what hate crimes are. how to report them and what services are available to victims. so that our community has more information in the events this something happen and w together to continue to prevent the crimes from happening and this we work on unifying cross cultural to stop the crimes from

happening the da's office is fortunate to have great relationships and such great partners. and it is my prior that we continue to work close low with each person that is responsible for serving victims of crime so we move the ball forward. i, tooshgment to recognize the violence as i said that resulted in the loss of lives in monterey park in oakland expect half moon bay. roberto hernandez is here, who is a tremendous community stake holder and organizer, and has been essential to bringing together the latino and asian community to support one another. we know, it was both asian lives and latino lives lost amongst the farm workers in half moon bay. i want to thank him for being here today and doing that great work. thank you. i will turn it over to chief

scott. >> good morning. thank you da jenkins. good morning, everybody. i will start with d ajenkins left awl off expressing my condolences to the victim's families and everyone impacted by the mass shootings at half moon bay, monterey park and oakland. these types of incidents shake us to our core. and the basis of many of the incidents approximate are route in the hate. it is quite simple. they are rot in the hate. so -- it was tragic to start what should be such a great time with the new year and lounar new year with tragedies of this magnitude. as we always have to do, we have to look at each other and ban together and pick up piece and move forward. that's what this is about. this is about how we do it as a

community. all of us in the san francisco police department value our long standing partnerships and nowhere is that more true than in china town. through this time of year for celebration i'm here to talk about something had is serious. and also want to say a few words hat san francisco police department is doing to strengthen our bond with the asian community and when we are doing to help you if you are the victim of a crime and more important low how to prevent the crime from happening in the first place. our officers here to my right, work to address the crimes against asian community. i want to thank everyone here and we know that -- the pd cannot do it a11 we are stronger together. with people like the leaders standing here to my left and right under the leadership of our mayor issue london breed. we have to be together and work in collaboration to address the challenge this is face our city.

hate ms. no place in the community it betrays the values the city cherishes and against what the lunar new year is all about. as stated by every speaker, we did see a decrease in hate crimes against the asian community 22-21 a significant decrease. so we are and will never be satisfied with a decrease. we cannot be satisfied until we e eliminate the crimes that is a daunting task. now what you heard from mayor breed city attorney chu and jenkins, the many things they introduce are all in my opinion, lead to the fabric of community. when i look and seat many community members when are not from the china town community but always here for their community but every community around this city when we have to

come together. that is what community is about. because we are here to protect not only our elders who are sit to my left butt people that worked hard to make china town what it is today. which is an iconic treasure of this city as also to the world we want to keep it this way >> the first step in building the bond system communication. in that regard, the san francisco police department has over 500 bilingual officers. 100 know cantonese officers 20 manualed rain and 20 filipino speaking recovers under the leadership of the mir we stepped update liaison unit. a lot said how important it it is to offer and coordinate services to our victims and families when they are subject to hate related crimes or serious crimes. under the major's leadership we

started the unit that added value. we worked with the da and her team to make super when services are appropriate we -- collaborate and give people guidance to get to the services and that hen a huge value add to this process that is daunting when somebody is victimized. it is the goal of our community liaison units to across the relationships with the police department and under served people in the communities. people that have been marginalized and many of those individuals and people are from limited english proefficiency communities. our cou officer they coordinate with investigation's bureau to provide support, out reach on prejudiced based incident. hate crimes and life threatening incidents of violence against the members of the communities. they have done a tremendous j.w. we have whether commended staff

in crisis to keep the community in tact and our commit commitment to you we will have a liaison unit in the san francisco police department because that is a prior to us. we continue is a priority to you all employs our members that we serve. our investigation's unit, especially investigations division is the entity responsible for the investigations of hate crimes they have done that for many years they have specialized training and focus on the investigation of prejudice based incidents. we track all prejudice based incidents i will ask everyone's cooperation to report these type of any types of crime his they occur this is how we get to a better place. and sometimes -- things happen that are hate fueld that may not amount to the elements of a hate crime. we are still asking to you report them. because the basis of a hate

crime and the rot of the hate crime is something lesser. if we track those incidents feign than i don't amount to a crime and attach a name we can give our da and her team if a case gets prosecuted better ammunition to charge hate crime offenses. please, it is important that you report those crimes. >> a way is to call the tip line. we facilitate the tip line in 9 languages and although witnesses to in progress crimes are encouraged to call 911 and report hayou see immediately. if it is nonemergency or if you think you have a clue that leads to solving of a crime, please, call that number. 575-4444. lastly i will speak with b things that are important and the mir talkod one that is the many ambassador programs the

mayor made significant investment t. is a shim we have to escort people to the bank but where the blessing is this city has a will and resources to make that happen. we do believe that makes a difference. many of our most vulnerable members are attacked doing lifelike going to the bank to get money. we want to make sure that is done in a safe way and resources are available to make that happen. police department has its own set of ambassadors refired san francisco police officer who is have police radios and trained through long careers. to know what to do when they see whatever it is they are seeing and work with our patrol officers. to make sure we independent to incidents. as they occur that hen a tremendous resource i want to thank the mayor and everybody who hen a part of making that happen. lastly, our presence this this

community. after the shoot nothing monterey park, i know assistant chief approximate deputy chief. the captain here acting captain, immediately put a plan in action it increase the presence and this community with police officers. the difficulty sustaining that type of increase in presence we are committed to do what we can do do that. if something the mayor talked about and we know we are facing staffing crisis but making when modifications weical to make sure in community in china town, the police officers do a tremendous job. they know the community and know people trust them. often time people call them directly than 911 i don't add sunrise if that's the way you community it we will take it. they built those reps. the officers some here and

captain will continue to support this community and than i have my and the command starch's backing as well as the unyielding support of our mayor. you will see presence in this community. our community events have been historically well attended boy the members like china town night out. easter egg hunt. toy give awaves and the like. those are events that help us come together before there is a crisis. and because we do this we are better able to handle a crisis when they happen. i will end by saying thank you to everyone here. thank you to the community members from the city and again, for the mayor's leadership. together, we can make this happen and better. and that is our commitment from the san francisco police department. so, i turn it back over to our city attorney david chu to close us out. [applause]. >> thank you. i have a couple closing comments. of course i want to thank our

great mayor. police chief and district attorney for their commitment when we have done is ensure that off the services, all programs geared in the area than i are alined and connected putting protocols and process together to make sure we are working together as a city and working together with communities. the second thing i say is while today is focused on the issues that we have been grabbling with in the ap i community when we are doing is building the infrastructure to make sure we are safer as a city to protect all our communities we know nahate crimes and incidents impact us whether you are black, latin x or lgbt lgbt a woman jewish, et cetera, well is more weave had to do and part that is what today is about. third thing is obviously the work that has been put in today would not have been done not just because of the leaders here but because of amazing staff i

thank from the mayor's office ivy lee. policy advisor and mason lee from the san francisco police department. i want to thank david lazar. julian ang and your command staff in the da office willis and your leader ishmael team ana gonzalez. nancy tongue and i will say this this hen in the works for a time. certainly predating the horrific ins debts occurring outside of the city during this past week and everyone here we not only hearts bleed for those no, ma'am members and communities in monterey park and half moon bay and oakland the hope is the work here will be a model in how we address violence. how we take care of victims. how we think about addressing the mental health of communities to make sure we are safe moving

forward. with that. i want to thank you for coming. i know a number of officials have to leave quickly. what i suggest for the press if you have questions for any of officials just grb us on the way out. happy new year and lunar new year and stay safe. thank you very much. streets. >> (speaking foreign language.) >> i wanted to wish you a best

wishes and congratulations the community has shifted a lot of when i was growing up in the 60s and 50's a good portion of chicano-american chinese-american lived in north beach a nob hill community. >> as part the immigrant family is some of the recreation centers are making people have the ability to get together and meet 0 other people if communities in the 60s a 70s and 80s and 90s saw a move to the richmond the sunset district and more recently out to the excelsior the avenue community as well as the ensuring u bayview so chinese family living all over the city and when he grape it was in this area.

>> we're united. >> and growing up in the area that was a big part of the my leave you know playing basketball and mycy took band lessons and grew up. >> (speaking foreign language.) >> allergies welcome to the community fair it kicks off three weeks of celebrations for the year and let's keep everybody safe and celebrate the biggest parade outside of china

on february 11th go best wishes and congratulations and 3, 2, 1 happy enough is enough. >> i grew up volley ball education and in media professional contrary as an educator he work with all skids whether or not caucasian hispanic and i african-american cumber a lot of arrest binge kids my philosophy to work with all kids but being here and griping in the chinese community being a chinese-american is important going to american school during the day but went to chinese school that is community is important working with all the kids and having them exposed to all culture it is important to

me. >> it is a mask evening. >> i'd like to thank you a you all to celebrate an installation of the days here in the asian art museum. >> one time has become so many things in the past two centuries because of the different did i licks the immigration officer didn't understand it became no standard chinese marine or cantonese sproupgs it became so many different sounds this is convenient for the immigration officer this okay your family name so this tells the generations of immigrants where they come from and also many stories behind it

too. >> and what a better way to celebrate the enough is enough nuru with the light nothing is more important at an the hope the energy we. >> (speaking foreign language.) >> relative to the current administration it is, it is touching very worrisome for our immigrant frames you know and some of the stability in the country and i know how this new president is doing you know immigration as well as immigrants (fireworks) later than you think

new year the largest holiday no asia and china those of us when my grandparents came over in the 19 hundreds and celebrated in the united states chinese nuru is traditional with a lot of meaning. >> good afternoon my name is carmen chu assessor-recorder i want to wish everything a happy new year thank you for joining us i want to say. >> (speaking foreign language.) >> (speaking foreign language.) >> i'm proud to be a native san

franciscan i grew up in the chinatown, north beach community port commission important to come back and work with those that live in the community that i grew up in and that that very, very important to give back to continue to work with the community and hope e help those who may not be as capable in under serving come back and give

>> i am iris long. we are a family business that started in san francisco chinatown by my parents who started the business in the mid 1980s. today we follow the same footsteps of my parents. we source the teas by the harvest season and style of crafting and the specific variety. we specialize in premium tea. today i still visit many of the

farms we work with multigenerational farms that produce premium teas with its own natural flavors. it is very much like grapes for wine. what we do is more specialized, but it is more natural. growing up in san francisco i used to come and help my parents after school whether in middle school or high school and throughout college. i went to san francisco state university. i did stay home and i helped my parents work throughout the summers to learn what it is that makes our community so special. after graduating i worked for an investment bank in hong kong for a few years before returning when my dad said he was retiring. he passed away a few years ago.

after taking over the business we made this a little more accessible for visitors as well as residents of san francisco to visit. many of our teas were traditionally labeled only in chinese for the older generation. today of our tea drinkkers are quite young. it is easy to look on the website to view all of our products and fun to come in and look at the different varieties. they are able to explore what we source, premium teas from the providence and the delicious flavors. san francisco is a beautiful city to me as well as many of the residents and businesses here in chinatown. it is great for tourists to visit apsee how our community

thrived through the years. this retail location is open daily. we have minimal hours because of our small team during covid. we do welcome visitors to come in and browse through our products. also, visit us online. we have minimal hours. it is nice to set up viewings of these products here.

as latinos we are unified in some ways and incredibly diverse in others and this exhibit really is an exploration of nuance in how we present those ideas. ♪♪

our debts are not for sale. >> a piece about sanctuary and how his whole family served in the army and it's a long family tradition and these people that look at us as foreigners, we have been here and we are part of america, you know, and we had to reinforce that. i have been cure rating here for about 18 year. we started with a table top, candle, flowers, and a picture and people reacted to that like it was the monna lisa. >> the most important tradition as it relates to the show is idea of making offering.

in traditional mexican alters, you see food, candy, drinks, cigarettes, the things that the person that the offerings where being made to can take with them into the next word, the next life. >> keeps us connects to the people who have passed and because family is so important to us, that community dynamic makes it stick and makes it visible and it humanizes it and makes it present again. ♪♪ >> when i first started doing it back in '71, i wanted to do something with ritual, ceremony and history and you know i talked to my partner ross about the research and we opened and it hit a cord and people loved it. >> i think the line between

engaging everyone with our culture and appropriating it. i think it goes back to asking people to bring their visions of what it means to honor the dead, and so for us it's not asking us to make mexican altars if they are not mexican, it's really to share and expand our vision of what it means to honor the dead. >> people are very respectful. i can show you this year alone of people who call tol ask is it okay if we come, we are hawaii or asian or we are this. what should we wear? what do you recommend that we do? >> they say oh, you know, we want a four day of the dead and it's all hybrid in this country. what has happened are paper

cuts, it's so hybrid. it has spread to mexico from the bay area. we have influence on a lot of people, and i'm proud of it. >> a lot of times they don't represent we represent a lot of cultures with a lot of different perspectives and beliefs. >> i can see the city changes and it's scary. >> when we first started a lot of people freaked out thinking we were a cult and things like that, but we went out of our way to also make it educational through outreach and that is why we started doing the prosession in 1979. >> as someone who grew up attending the yearly processions and who has seen them change

incrementally every year into kind of what they are now, i feel in many ways that the cat is out of the bag and there is no putting the genie back into the bottle in how the wider public accesses the day of the dead. >> i have been through three different generations of children who were brought to the procession when they were very young that are now bringing their children or grandchildren. >> in the '80s, the processions were just kind of electric. families with their homemade visuals walking down the street in san francisco. service so much more intimate and personal and so much more rooted in kind of a family practice of a very strong cultural practice. it kind of is what it is now and it has gone off in many different directions but i will

always love the early days in the '80s where it was so intimate and sofa millial. >> our goal is to rescue a part of the culture that was a part that we could invite others to join in there there by where we invite the person to come help us rescue it also. that's what makes it unique. >> you have to know how to approach this changing situation, it's exhausting and i have seen how it has affected everybody. >> what's happening in mission and the relationship with the police, well it's relevant and it's relevant that people think about it that day of the dead is not just sugar skulls and paper

flowers and candles, but it's become a nondenominational tradition that people celebrate. >> our culture is about color and family and if that is not present in your life, there is just no meaning to it you know? >> we have artists as black and brown people that are in direct danger of the direct policies of the trump administration and i think how each of the artists has responded so that call is interesting. the commoncommission

the commmeeting is n conducted pursuant the provisions of the boun act and recent executive orders issue d by the governor to reduce the risk of covid-19 transmission at public meetings. the brown act sets strict rules for teleconferencing. the governor signed a new amendment to the brown act to allow continued use of teleconferencing for public meetings during a state of emergency providing commissions such as ours make certain findings. to comply with the legal requirement, items 5 and 6 on the agenda is request to consider whether continued use of teleconferencing will minimize health risk and whether our commission is able to use teleconferencing in a matter that allows