St. Lawrence County residents can now call a toll-free hotline to report incidents of bias and discrimination.

The state hotline is designed to “protect New Yorkers and allow those who are the victim of prejudice to file a complaint with the Division of Human Rights,” according to a release from Gov. Cuomo’s office.

Following an uptick in recent reports of discrimination, bias-motivated threats, harassment and violence, the Governor also announced multi-agency investigations into alleged hate crimes across New York.

The Governor is also sending a letter to the State Education Department requesting schools hold trainings to combat intolerance and safeguard New York’s students.

These latest efforts follow two separate investigations into alleged hate crimes in Wellsville and Livingston, NY that the Governor directed last week.

New Yorkers who have experienced bias or discrimination are encouraged to call DHR’s toll-free hotline at (888) 392-3644 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday - Friday. If you want to report a crime or fear for your safety, call 911 immediately.

The New York State Police currently has 46 investigators assigned to Troops across the state who have been trained as bias crime specialists. The investigators work on State Police cases that may involve bias crimes and are available to assist other law enforcement agencies statewide as requested.

Additionally, as a result of these incidents in schools, the Governor is sending a letter to State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia, requesting the State Education Department to immediately require schools to hold trainings for staff and students to reinforce the strong anti-discrimination provisions included within the state Human Rights Law and Dignity for All students Act, as well as underscore the importance of reporting any criminal discriminatory behavior to law enforcement.

Under state law, a person commits a hate crime when one of a specified set of offenses is committed targeting a victim because of a perception or belief about their race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation, or when such an act is committed as a result of that type of perception or belief. Hate crimes can be perpetrated against an individual, a group of individuals or against public or private property. Also under state law it is illegal to discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, religion, ethnicity and many other protected classifications.