Hate Crimes in State Increase by 12%

By BOBBY CUZA

July 28, 2000 12 AM PT

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

More than a quarter of all hate crimes in the state last year occurred in Los Angeles, nearly three times as many as in the next-highest city, according to a report released Thursday by the state attorney general’s office.

The state’s 1,962 hate crimes, occurring at a rate of more than five a day last year, represent an increase of 12% over the previous year. The total is the second highest since California began keeping track in 1994, the report stated.

But last year’s figures may not reflect an actual increase, Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer said at a Thursday morning news conference. He said the spike may simply indicate an increased willingness by individuals and police agencies to report instances of hate.

“Whatever the truth, it’s too many,” Lockyer said. “[The total of 5.4] a day in California is too many.”

State law defines a hate crime as any attempted criminal act “motivated by hatred based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation or disability.” The state Department of Justice requires each law enforcement agency in California to submit copies of hate crime reports on a monthly basis.

Lockyer explains in the report why hate-motivated offenses are particularly deplorable: “Each hate crime is an attack on the victim’s personal identity or beliefs, leading to an ongoing fear of repeated attacks . . . the perpetrator views their victim as lacking full human worth due to their skin color, language, religion, sexual orientation or disability.”

Last year saw a flurry of high-profile hate crimes--both nationwide and in California, where white supremacists set arson fires at three Sacramento-area synagogues and Buford Furrow Jr. allegedly went on a shooting rampage at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills. The publicity from those incidents and others may have prompted copycat crimes and, at the same time, encouraged more people to report hate-motivated offenses, said David Lehrer, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League.

Of the 1,962 incidents reported last year, more than 60% were motivated by race or ethnicity, with more than half of those crimes directed at blacks.

“These are personal, direct acts,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. “It’s not just a matter of graffiti anymore.”

Cooper said the proliferation of hate sites on the World Wide Web has empowered individual bigots.

“We are seeing within the reported high-profile cases a very disturbing trend,” he said. “[Individuals] are saying, ‘Well, I’m not really a member of any group, but I found inspiration and validation for my feelings . . . and, in some cases, the training, by just going online.”

When the Wiesenthal Center started tracking hate sites in April 1995 at the time of the Oklahoma City bombing, Cooper said, it found just one. Today it has cataloged more than 2,600.

While he stopped short of blaming technology, Cooper said it has changed the battle against hate by providing a vehicle for hatemongers to market their message.

Los Angeles County tallied 809 hate crimes in all--41% of the statewide total--including 20 in Lancaster and 39 in Long Beach. No other county had 300. But the report warned against making geographic comparisons, noting that the data are affected by cultural diversity, population density and police training in the identification of hate crimes.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Focus of Hate

Reported hate crimes in California totaled 1,962 in 1999. Here are some

statistics.

Basis of hate crimes

Race/ethnicity: 60%

Sexual orientation: 22%

Gender/physical or mental disability: 1%

Religion: 17%

Groups targeted in hate crimes motivated by race/ethnicity

Black: 51%

Latino: 14%