TCNY Card EN Las Los Angeles City Councilman, 6TH District
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TCNY cARD EN LAs Los Angeles City Councilman, 6TH District September 9, 2008 Adam Lid Legislative Assistant, Ad Hoc Committee on Gang Violence and Youth Development Dear Adam, Enclosed is the County of Los Angeles Commission on Human Relations 2007 Hate Crime Report, a compilation of data provided by law enforcement agencies, school districts, universities, and community organizations to raise awareness about the types, severity, location and content of hate crimes in Los Angeles County. The 2007 report reveals a 28% increase in the total number of reported hate crime compared to the prior year, and the highest total in the last five years. We will be introducing a motion later today asking for the County Commission on Human Relations to present the findings oftheir a1mual report to the Ad Hoc Committee on Gang Violence and Youth Development this Thursday, September 11, 2008. We are requesting that the City Clerk file this report so we can hear it at this Thursday's Committee meeting. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via email or phone. Sincer~y, \~\\ Michael la Rocha Legislative Deputy Office of Los Angeles City Councilman Tony Cardenas SEP 1 0 2008 AD HOC COMMITTEE ON GANG VIOLENCE & YOUTH DEVELOPMENT City Hall • 200 N. Spring Street • Room 455 • Los Angeles, CA 90012 • (213) 473· 7006 • Fax (213) 847-0549 Van Nuys • 14410 Sylvan StTeet • Room 215 • Van Nuys, CA 91401 • (818) 778·4999 • Fax (818) 778-4998 ~ Sun Valley • 9300 Laurel Canyon Blvd., 2"" Floor • Sun Valley, CA 91331 • (818) 771-0236 • Fax (818) 756-8155 @ Qtange <County . :1 t;urrdrO!l:i LOS ANGELES COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Yvonne B. Burke, Chair ............... , . Secrmd.Dk~ltict Gloria Molina ...................... , .First Dk~!rict Zev Yaroslavsky ....................... Third District Don Knabe .......................... FoU11h District Michael D. Antonovich ................. Fifth District William T Fujioka, Chief Executive 0/fic(fl' LOS ANGELES COUNTY •COMMISSION ON HUMAN RELATIONS C0 lfM fSS I 0 ll ER S )lobi~ $.T<ima, Eii]:BxeC1JIIve!Jirector . lli.~p~ru .. ye;che~,.ph!ef)JefJ!'!f·Dh~clor Felipe AiJr~dari 0 ~~tieJ1! Adrian .• nove .... vi~~ ~nt/SeCI'etary•·. ·· .· ····• ·EJ~~~ p~p~rt:~chilt, JJ$sf~lafll Directm· · Ahni,e,fl.?~e.s '· M,aflll{fel'.df.0c/Jrli~l\ation. Williaq~ Lambert. YiceJ>resjdent Av~·Guti~rre,,.f!f!};licl1'/jimf1o!io1J'Qjjicer meariorR Montdno. JliC{!PresiclenJ' Dr .. San4raTlwmas Vice}'resid'ent • · INT(i~ROVP RELAtiON) SPfCIHISTS Donna BojatsliY ~us~nC~um~rig, Esq, Tony Mass~ngale, St. RiKu Matsuda )ley. Z~darE.Broa<loos, USN(Ret.) · K~thaypeng;Esq; • Guit~voG?~tniV~<Juez · 9herYlYUwJipff · !lorcleil Olil'e Vito Can11ella Lea An~ J{jrg Mario Ceballos Sergio Paz Sikil'u Hutclunson Josbrarr · GJ'andMaster Tong Sok Chon John Wuo MaryLquise.Longoda Ray Regalado Juan Carlos. Martinez Marshali Wong Fr~~kie Maryland-Alston HONORARY MEMBERS . INfORMATION HC.HNOlOGY John Ansml Ford {1883-1 Q~3) ISaac Martinez Keith Chao Rabbi Alfred Wolf, Ph.D. (191 ?-2004) Catherine G, Stern AU fill til SJ RAll VE•· S1 A If Morris Kight (1930-2003) Patrida.Boone Sharon Quitm Philip R, V~era •...• (laroline !lata Sharon Williams RaYW, Bartlett(t9!9.,:loos) 6A¢¢i?*~rib~~g · Table of Contents Preface ........................ 3 A Closer Look at Religious Hate Crimes .................... 22 What is a Hate Crime? ............. 3 A Closer Look at Gender and Chart: Total Number of Reported Disability Hate Crimes ............. 24 Hate Crimes by Year ............... 4 Prosecutions in 2007 . ............. 25 Summary of Hate Crime Report 2007 . .. 5 Review of 2007 Hate Crime Chart: Hate Crimes by Motivation . ...... 6 Legislation ..................... 26 Chart: Locations of Hate Crimes . .... 6 Methodology ................... .27 Chart: Groups Targeted in Hate Crimes . .. 7 Understanding the Numbers ......... 28 Chart: Hate Crimes by Criminal Offense .. 8 Appendix A: Hate Crime Reporting Agencies ............... 29 2007 Hate Crimes in Perspective ...... 9 Commission Actions to Address Appendix B: Hate Crime by Hate Crimes in 2007 . ............. 13 Service Planning Areas ............. 30 A Closer Look at Racial Hate Crimes ... 16 Map of Service Planning Areas ...... 31 A Closer Look at Sexual Orientation Acknowledgements Hate Crimes .................... 20 Dedication ..................... 32 Preface One of the Longest-Standing Reports in the Nation on Hate Crime Since 1980, the los Angeles : combating hate crime: Network i investigation and prosecution and County Commission on Human : Against Hate Crime, Racialized : the Commission produces one of Relations has compiled, analyzed, ': Gang Violence Prevention Initiative, ! the longest-standing reports in the and produced an annual report of ; zerohour/No Haters Here! youth i nation documenting hate crime. hate crime data submitted by; initiative, Hate Crime Victim : The report has been disseminated all 47 sheriff and city police agen- : Assistance and Advocacy Initiative, ~ broadly to policy-makers, law cies, and numerous educalionol : Human Relations Mutual Assistance : enforcement agencies, educators, institutions and community-based ; Consortium, Corporate Advisory : and community groups throughout organizations. Committee, and Media Image ; los Angeles County and across Coalition. the nation in order to better Using information from the report, : inform efforts to prevent, detect, the Commission sponsors a number ·: L.A. County is one of the best report, investigate, and prosecute of ongoing programs related to ; trained jurisdictions in hate crime . hate crimes. til What is a Hate Crime? According to California state law, specific person or group of per- : ed by free speech rights set forth in hale crime charges are filed when sons. The-threat must be uneguivo- ~-the California and U.S. constitutions. there is evidence that bias, hatred, cal, and the words used must be of : . d· 1 h . : Graffiti is a hate crime when it is dis- or prejudice based on the victim's an 1m me 1ale y I reatenmg nature. : . I f I ; parag1ng to a c ass o peop e pro- real or perceived race/ethnicity, : tected by hate crime laws. This is most religion, ancestry, national origin, often indicated by.the use of epithets disability, gender, or sexual orien· ; or hate group symbols or slogans. tation is a substantial factor in the : To be a hate crime, graffiti must be commission of the offense. This def directed at a specific target. For exam inition is codified in the California ple, racial graffiti on a freeway over Penal Code sections 422.55 to pass that does not address itself to a 422.95 pertaining to hate crime. Frequently, derogatory words or : · h d. d . particular person is vandalism, and ep1t ets are 1recte agamst a . Evidence of such bias, hotred, or prej . therefore illegal, but not considered mem b er o I a protec.te_d c Iass, b ut no : h . udice can be direct or circumstan - a ate en me. violence is threatened and there is ; tial. It can occur before, during, or no apparent ability to harm the tar- j Vandalism of a house of worship or alter the commission of the offense. get. Such hate incidents are impor- i of an ethnic, religious, or gay and Hate speech may be a criminal !ant indicators of intergroup tensions. i lesbian organization may be consid offense when the speaker/writer They are not, however, criminal : ered a hate crime in the absence of has threatened violence against a Offenses. Such language is protect- ' evidence of other motives. li!l Total Number of Reported Hate Crimes by Year 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 1980 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000 01 02 03 04 OS 06 07 Reported hom aimes rose in !he 1990s, following odopffon of legisloffon by the Colifomio stole legisloture in 1989 !hat mandates low enforcement to record ond report hote crimes. Underreporting of Hate Crime The National Crime Victim Survey : • Immigration status : • Reluctance to admit to o prob- by the U.S. Justice Department ! • Lack of knowledge about the . lem that could result in negative found that hate crimes occurred 24 : criminal justice system publicity to 28 times more than the number : • Fear of insensitive treatment or : Hate crimes that occur in schools, reported by police to the FBI.* This : prior negative experience with ; jails, and juvenile detention facili- is due to victims not reporting hate : government agencies : t' . 1 d' 1 1 · 1 " 1es, me u mg arge-sca e rac10 crimes to police as well as a failure • r r · : b 1 1 h ·1y h : Common reasons raw enrorcement agenCies · raws are rare y reported as ate o f Iow en forcement to c I asst ate · d , h . · h · . d h f d I : on t report ate wme: : cnmes. T erefore, the hate cnmes cnmes an report t em to e era · . : · d · h' l'k 1 · • Hate crime reporting a low priority :_ contmne tn t 1s report 1 e y repre authorities. : • Lack of formal hate crime policies, ·: sent only a fraction of hate crimes Common reasons victims don't report: training or practices • C::~u:'~!r.:'~"'.i~:'d ~~-~-~~~~--- hate crime: • • Crimes with multiple motivations : *U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of • Fear of retaliation or involving gangs are frequent- : Justice Statistics, 2005, "Hate Crime • Linguistic or cultural barriers ly not reported as hate crimes : Reported by Victims and Police" 4 (i:S Summary of Hate Crime Report . .. · 2 0 0 iii Hale crimes in Los Angeles iii Crimes motivated by gender iii All of the crimes targeting County rose 28%, from 594 to more than doubled, from 7 to transgender victims (1 00%) 763, the highest in five years. 15. All but one of these crimes were violent, followed by were based on gender identi 7 6% of sexual orientation, iii The most common .type of ty and most targeted male-to: hate cdmes were those moti· female transgender women.