A citizen's study of bias-motivated attacks in Seattle neighborhoods indicates that West Seattle is not immune from prejudice.

In fact, the report that was released earlier this month by Ballard resident Ken Molsberry found bias attacks are not uncommon in any Seattle neighborhood.

Through records from the Seattle Police Department's bias-crime database, Molsberry categorized bias-motivated incidents by neighborhood from 2000 to 2005. More than 400 incidents were documented in all 18 Seattle neighborhoods. Some included verbal and physical threats. Many were incidents based on race, religion, sexual orientation and national origin.

Molsberry said he felt compelled to do something when he heard of a bias attack in his ostensibly safe neighborhood.

Just a few days before Christmas in 2004, a man was attacked outside of a Ballard restaurant. Before the assault, the attackers had asked the victim if he were gay. Though the victim replied that he was not gay, the assailants beat the man unconscious while they yelled, "This is still Ballard."

"(This incident) shows that anyone can be a victim," said Molsberry, who is gay. "It's not who you are necessarily, but who the attacker thinks you are."

It was "the lack of community response to this crime, not only during the assault, but afterwards," that Molsberry said inspired his report, "Bias Crimes and Incidents in Seattle: 2000 to 2005: An analysis by type of bias and neighborhood."

"(Communities) should be aware that they are no more safe from bias attacks than other neighborhoods," said Molsberry. "We have to get away from that false sense of security."

The dominant motivator for bias attacks in Seattle, according to Molsberry's report, was race (142 incidents) and sexual orientation (119 incidents).

In West Seattle there were 10 attacks based on race, and six on sexual orientation. In total, there were 25 bias-motivated attacks in West Seattle in the four-year period. There were 12 incidents reported in White Center. Five were based on race, three on national origin and two on sexual orientation.

Carlos Jimenez, a member of the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council and president of Group of Mexico in White Center, said the number of bias attacks in West Seattle and White Center don't reflect the community he lives in.

"The numbers of race attacks seems a little high," said Jimenez. "Racial profiling issues are decreasing in White Center and the neighborhoods have gotten better in the last few years."

Jimenez said he feared the numbers could reinforce the stereotype that White Center is a "high crime" area.

"But it isn't," he said. "That's just an image people have kept in their minds."

West Seattle had the fifth most bias incidents, but the First Hill, Capitol Hill and Eastlake neighborhoods had the most, with 20 attacks based on race and 43 on sexual orientation. There were 48 incidents reported in the Belltown, Downtown Seattle neighborhood.

But Molsberry and said the numbers could actually be higher because many incidents go unreported for fear of reprisal or mistrust in government.

Molsberry also analyzed the number and types of bias incidents 20 months before and after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The report shows an increase in most types of attacks after Sept. 11.

National origin attacks increased by 220 percent, from 10 to 32 incidents. Attacks based on sexual orientation rose 44 percent and on religion, 41 percent.

"What we see is a pretty clear indication that hate breeds hate," said Molsberry.

Sean Whitcomb with the Seattle Police Department, said biased incidents are enough of a problem that the department has a dedicated bias crime unit and a detective exclusively charged with investigating those incidents.

"Quite often they go unreported," said Whitcomb. "We feel it's our mission that all of these crimes get reported and go through a thorough investigation."

But it's often hard for police to categorize an attack with a specific bias because one attack could be motivated by a combination of reasons. About 4 percent of the police records obtained from the Seattle police bias crime database fell into this category.

Whitcomb said Molsberry's findings could be "artificially inflated" because the system accounts for all reports of bias attacks that may or may not lead to criminal charges. But Whitcomb said the difference would not be significant.

Molsberry hopes the report will promote community awareness about an issue that many don't recognize as a problem.

"I think if people knew how frequently and how serious bias attacks are we would all want to do something about it," he said. "If you're not subject to the attacks then it's all too easy to ignore them."

Molsberry has been invited to present the report to the Seattle City Council Public Safety Committee and the Seattle Commission for Sexual Minorities. But a little attention will only go so far to address the problem of bias-crimes in Seattle, he said.

"The next step is to ask, 'What can we do now and who wants to help?'" he said. "We have to say that we won't tolerate hate, bias and prejudice in our communities."

Access Ken Molsberry's full report on bias crimes in Seattle at tinyurl.com/plj72.

Rebekah Schilperoort can be reached at wseditor@robinsonnews.com