Hate Crimes decline 28% countywide, AV has highest rate per capita

The Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations (LACCHR) Thursday released its annual analysis on hate crimes reported in Los Angeles County for the most recent complete calendar year, 2010.

The findings show a 28% drop in the total number reported in the county, and the lowest yearly total in 21 years.  The decline in reported hate crimes, from 593 to 427, is the third consecutive year it has fallen.  The findings also found three attempted hate-motivated murders were reported for 2010.

Hate crimes occurred throughout Los Angeles County, but the largest numbers were concentrated in the San Fernando Valley, followed by the Metro region. However, if one accounts for population, the highest rate of hate crimes took place in the Antelope Valley.

Antelope Valley (including Acton, Gorman, Lancaster, Palmdale, Quartz Hill, Littlerock, and Lake Los Angeles) topped the county in hate crimes per population, with 8 hate crimes per 100,000 residents.

Additionally, in religious motivated hate crimes for 2010, there were three cases of arson, which all occurred in the Antelope Valley within the period of a few days. Molotov cocktails were used in each case. A Mormon church in Lancaster was struck twice and a First African Methodist church was attacked in Palmdale.

Countywide, the majority of hate crimes were racially-motivated (51%) and once again, African Americans were targeted most frequently (53%).  Hate crimes between African Americans and Latinos remained high.  Latinos were suspects in 59% of the anti-black crimes and blacks were suspects in 68% of the anti-Latino crimes. Nearly half of Latino-on-black crimes were committed by gang members.

“We are alarmed that hate crimes against African Americans, Jews, gays and lesbians, and Latinos are consistently the highest year after year,” said Commission President Sergio Paz. “In particular, the high rates of victimization between Latinos and African Americans continue to be an issue we focus on in schools, in our communities, and in the jails and prisons.”

Other findings in the LACCHR Hate Crime Report include:

• Sexual orientation crimes comprised 26% of all hate crimes and remained the most likely of major motivation categories to be of a violent nature (70%).
• Gay men were targeted in 86% of homophobic crimes.
• Hate crimes motivated by religion dropped 42% and the largest number, anti-Jewish crimes, fell by half.
• A number of hate crimes (18%) showed evidence of white Supremacist ideology, most frequently the use of swastikas or other symbols of hatred.  Roughly equal numbers of these crimes targeted Jews and racial targets.  The racial targets were primarily African Americans, but there were also small numbers of Latinos, Asians, Armenians and other groups.

View the complete report with hate crime maps, graphs and tables by clicking here.