While Dan expressed outrage over the Seattle Police Department's failure to investigate as a hate crime the brutal attack on a transgender girl—indignation echoed in the comment thread—from a pure police work perspective, it's not clear that the designation makes much of a difference.

The case has been assigned to a homicide detective as a violent crime, and may yet be classified as a "bias crime," SPD Public Affairs Department Det. Reneé Witt tells me, but regardless, Witt says, "we'll continue to investigate to the fullest." And that seems to be the procedure as outlined on the SPD's "Malicious Harassment" web page (the broader legal designation under which hate/bias crimes fall):

The initial police response to a report of Malicious Harrassment will be handled at first like any response call - based on priority depending on the seriousness of injury and damages. If you believe the attack was motivated by your status, ask the responding officer(s) to note this in their report.

If it is found that your case meets the standards of Malicious Harrassment, the investigation will then be forwarded to either the Bias Crime Coordinator or a local precinct detective for a follow up investigation.

The attack certainly appears to fit the definition of "malicious harassment" under both state and city law, but in any case, says Witt, it's the prosecutor who ultimately decides whether to file malicious harassment charges. A bias crime designation by the police would have no legal implication in and of itself, and wouldn't much change the way they proceed with the investigation.