SEATTLE -- A newly released report finds the number of hate crimes is holding steady, but members of the gay community say the attacks are getting more violent.



The most recent incident happened over the weekend at a Capitol Hill nightclub. Police said a man trying to enter R Place called for all gay people to be killed when he was turned away at the door.



"He made some threats, made some gestures that he had a gun, stated that he was going to shoot people from the gay community," Asst. Chief Nick Metz told city councilmembers during a briefing on bias crime investigations.



According to the latest data, detectives received 60 hate crime reports in the first half of 2014. Of those, 20 rose to the level of malicious harassment. Another 30 crimes had elements of bias. Detectives said the most likely victims come from Seattle's gay community.



"The anti-gay and lesbian category represents the most frequent bias crime in our city," said Lt. Michael Kebba, adding that it accounts for 35 percent of all incidents.



Gays were targeted in both the attempted New Year's arson at Neighbours on Capitol Hill, as well as the double homicide case in Leschi from early June.



Then a trend began this summer of ongoing assaults and robberies in the East Precinct, which is when officers began increasing patrols on Capitol Hill.



"Things have improved since there's more visibility," said Shaun Knittel with Social Outreach Seattle.



Knittel, who also writes for the Seattle Gay News, said even if bias crime numbers are holding steady, the attacks themselves are more violent.



"As far as the crime, the numbers may not be worse, but (it's) the way the criminals have acted," Knittel said.



Seattle police said one challenge to solving hate crimes is that victims are often too intoxicated to offer useful information to track a suspect.



Awareness campaigns are ongoing on Capitol Hill to encourage people to walk in groups - while the police sort out the safety issues.



"I think the bias crimes report shows the activity has maintained a fairly steady level," said Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O'Toole. "That's unfortunate. We'd like to see the trend going down."