Racial slur carved in playground being investigated as possible hate crime

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Delanco Police found a racist slur carved into a playground at this township park on West Avenue Wednesday.

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DELANCO TWP. -- Police are hoping someone will come forward to identify the person or people who carved a racial slur into a playground.

Police Chief Jesse DeSanto said public works staff contacted police after they discovered a "slang term for a racial slur" at the West Avenue playground Wednesday.

DeSanto said the word was removed immediately. It's not clear how long it had been there, he said, but usually the public is quick to report offensive graffiti. In this case, no one from the public had reported it.

The investigation is being treated as a bias incident and investigated under the attorney general's bias incident investigation standards, police said.

According to the attorney general's office, a bias incident can be a hate crime, although some incidents do not actually involve criminal activity.

A bias incident or hate crime is defined as any offense or unlawful act which occurs against a person or property based on race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call police at (856) 461-0357.

Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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