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 . :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 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. 71% of racial and 25% of reli- voted by racial/ ethnic or gious crimes. national origin bias ("racial li There was one lone report· hate crimes"): 535, or 68% of ed crime based on the victim's lill A greater number of crimes the total. There were 31 0 anti disability. were committed by groups of African American crimes two or more people, although (58%) followed by 125 anti l!i Tension between African Latina crimes (23%). These Americans and Latinos again there were fewer crimes com- represented sharp increases characterized an alarming miffed by large mobs than the from the previous year. Crimes number of hate crimes. In anti previous year. against Asians and whites black crimes, 71% of the sus pects were Latino. In crimes also rose. Crimes in which iii Suspects identified were anti-immigrant slurs were used targeting Latinos, black suspects overwhelmingly male (91 %) declined slightly. Attacks on constituted 56% of the total. inter-racial couples and mixed and 33% were iuveniles; a race groups of friends grew. ~ Gang members committed 38% were young adults 18- a large number of racial hate 25; and 29% were older iii The second largest group of crimes and were responsible than 25. hate crimes were motivated by for two attempted murders. sexual orientation ( 111 ) rep Sixteen percent of all hate iii Geographically, hate resenting an increase of 9%. crimes were tied to gangs. Of these, 92% targeted gay Gang members were suspects crimes look place across men and 8% were anti in 21% of racial hate crimes. los Angeles County, but the lesbian. largest numbers were clustered 1!'1 White supremacists were in the Metro, the Antelope iii Religious crimes were the implicated in 17% of all hate Valley, the San Fernando third largest category (1 05) crimes and committed over and grew 17%. Anti-Jewish whelmingly racial and reli Valley, and South regions. crimes dominated (7 4%). gious crimes . (See Appendix B) M! . Hate Crimes by.Motivation Roce/Ethnicity/ 535 Notional Origin 405 Sexual Orientation 105 90 1 <0.5% ·50% 2 16 33% 12 0 100 200 300 400 SOD 600 llllll2007 Eillllill2006 rote, religion, etc. Locations of Public Place Residence B . 97% 6% 100 150 200 150 300 Eillllill2006 Asian/Pacific Islander Armenian Christian Transgendered Salvadoran Indian Iranian 3 3 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 111112007 2006 In 2007, there were single crimes that targeted Africans, females, Germans, the mentally-disabled, Pakistanis, · and Samoans. There were two crimes each that targeted French people, Israelis, Koreans, and Mormons. The."' were 15 crimes, primarily cases af vandalism, which employed hate symbols (e.g. swastikas) but it could not be determined what group was being targeted. 2007 Hate (rim" ~eparr 7 .. Hate··. ·•trimes. •br·.····.·•Cfimina/ ...•• Offe.nse Penentoge Change from 2006 229 189 Simple Assault* 210 175 Aggravated Assault* 187 100 Intimidation* Disorderly Conduct* ·7% Burglary/ Attempted Burglary 160% 4 Attempted Murder ·69% 13 Sexual Assault 2 0 N/A Arson 1 5 Rape 0 50 100 150 200 250 1111112007 ~2006 8 2007 Hate Crimes in Perspective Hate crimes rose 28%, the highest number in five years The year 2007 was not marked by ; Latinos, whites, Asians, Jews, gay ; Even more disturbing, the level of headlines reporting widespread : men and transgender victims. . violence rose: violent hate crimes racial dashes in jails, juvenile ; Th' d . h t · h increased from 62% to 65% of the . ts stan s m s arp con rast wtt detention facilities and public · th I . rate .n Los . total. Fortunately, there were no : e genera cnme 1 schools or high visibility hate: Angeles County. : hate-motivated murders, and crimes that hod plagued the caun· j · attempted murders declined from ty in previous years. From this, one i 13 to 4. But aggravated assaults might easily conclude that hate : Oil ; increased 87%, and simple assaults crimes had declined. In fact, hate ; · rose 20%. crimes rose 28%, totaling 763, the: highest number in the past live : The distribution of hate crimes by years. Moreover, hate crimes . The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department : motivation was similar to the previ based on race, sexual orientation : reported a 6% reduction in crime ous year with racial hate crimes and religion rose across the board. · overall from 2006 to 2007, and . constituting 68% of the total, sexu- Higher numbers of hate crimes were : the Los Angeles Police Department · al orientation crimes 14% and reli- reparted that targeted blacks, : reported a 5% decrease. gious crimes 13%. White Supremacist Activity Continues to be Surprisingly High This is the third year this report is : Some experts estimate that nation- . that the majority of these crimes examining the subset of hate crimes j ally only about five percent of hate : are committed by "lone wolves" committed by white supremacists. j crimes are committed by members : who operate independently or with Although the suspects may not be j of hate groups. j groups of friends, rather than mem- actual members of organized hate : ~ bers of formal, structured organiza- groups, these crimes evidence ; ; lions. Sometimes these perpetrators signs of white supremacist activity, j : are only connected with hate groups most often the use of swastikas, ; ; via the internet. In addition, some white power symbols or slogans. ~ % j perpetrators may be young people On occasion the suspects proudly ; 17 : who are surprisingly ignorant of identified themselves as members · · the full meaning behind the sym- of hate groups by name. ; bois they use in random acts of . vandalism at schools or other One hundred and thirty-one hate : Many of the hate groups that claim . locations. Sometimes, swastikas crimes showed such evidence, or : Southern California chapters are ; are mingled with profanity, or 17%, a percentage identical to the not active and only retain a post • anarchist symbols and target of the previous year. office box or website. It is likely : graffiti is ambiguous. ?DOl Nato (rimt Rr:porl 9 of gang-related hate crimes were violent, compared to 75% the pre vious year. Sharp increases in cases of aggravated assaults (from 24 to 43) and robberies (from 4 to 13) are responsible for the rise in the level of violence. As distinct from the role af Latinos in overall anti-black crimes, gang members were reported suspects in 21% of racial hate crimes in 2007, compared to 23% in 2006. Ninety-four percent of hate crimes committed by gang members were racially-motivated. Of these, 7 4 (or 65%) of gang motivatrd crimes Gangs Remain a Maior Factor in Hate Crimes·· were anti-black. This represented 24% of all anti-black crimes. By Hate crimes committed by gang ; crimes in which solely the appear-: contrast, only 25 (or 20%) of members increased from 105 Ia: once of the suspects (e.g. shaved gang-related hate crimes were 120, a 14% increase. This repre-: heads, baggy pants, non-gang tat anti-latina. However, although sents 16% of all hate crimes com- : taos) led witnesses to suspect they . latina on black hate crimes are pared to 18% the previous year. : were gang members. Therefore, : increasing, the percentage of This report classifies as gang-: the actual number of suspects who: these crimes committed by gang related those crimes in which the : were gang members may be higher. . members is declining. suspects .admitted their gang i The two attempted hate murders: affiliation or used the names of : reported in 2007 involved gang : gangs or tagging crews in graffiti : members as suspects. Gang-related:: or tattoos. We do not include : hate crime grew more violent: 79%: in 21% Black-Latina Conflict In contrast, black gang members comprise a growing percentage of Tensions between African Americans suspects in anti-Latina crimes. and Latinos remained a major fac tor driving hate crimes. These twa The gangs and tagging crews groups were the most frequent vic identified in hate crime reports in tims af hate crimes, and the majori 2007 included 12th Street, 1 8th ty of black victims were targeted by Street, 204th Street, 238th St. Tiny Latino suspects and vice versa. While Winos Clique, American Front most gang violence occurs within a Skinheads, Black P-Stones Nation, racial or ethnic group (that is, Bloods, Broadway Gangster black-on-black, Latino-on-Latino), Crip, Canoga Park-Alabama Latino gang members were respon clique, Chatsworth Skin, Compton sible for 34% of Latino on black Varrio Setentas, Crazy Riders 13, I crimes (see chart). In contrast, gang East Side longos, El Monte Flores I members were res.ponsible for 42% Latina on Black Black on Latino 13, Florencia 13, Gardena 13, ~lack on Latino crimes. Hang Out Boys 13, Hoover 10 !_a~· AugrJi>5 (t;UP!y Hunwn /?1)/r.i!iow: (nmmi.Hirm Criminal Gang, La Mirada locos, committed racial hate crimes in Identified Suspects of Hate Crimes lennox 13, Mara Salvatrucha 13, large groups. Even with this by Age Maravilla, locke Street, MTC 13, decline, juveniles remain 33% of : Nazi law Riders, NDT, Newhall all offenders, compared to 43% 13, Orange Street, Paramount . the previous year. Young adult · longos, Pasadena Denver lane : Bloods, pj Watts Crip, Peeker· : offenders (18-25) rose from 190 woods, Rancho Santa Cruz, : to 264, a growth of 39%. They : Rolling 60's Crip, SFT/SFTK, : constituted 38% of all suspects. Supreme i White Power, The : Those suspects over 25 grew 12% • Avenues, The Suicidals, TMF, from 116 to 201 and represented Tortilla Flats 13, Whittier Varrio .. 29% of all identified suspects. locos, Young Crowd. 40% Ill 18·25 Typical of each year, males com· · 30% Under 18 prised about 9 in 10 of identified 30% Ill Over 25 Number of Juvenile suspects in 2007. Of those sus· : peels committing violent hate : Offenders Declines crimes, males were approximately ; For hate crimes in which suspects ; 90% as well. This is consistent with : Rise in Group Attacks were identified, juveniles decreased : past years. Overall, male suspects · For some years, this report has slightly from 233 to 226 (a decline i were more likely to commit violent noted that hate crime suspects fre· of 3%). The previous year juveniles ; crimes than females, but the vio· ~ quently commit their crimes in had ballooned 53% because of ; lence rates for both males and groups. lone individuals were sus pects in 46% of hate crimes (com· the large number of youth who : females aged 18-25 were similar. pared to 53% the previous year) and 25% were committed by two Anti·Biack Hate Crime by Anti{a'rino Hate Crime by people (down from 27%). Suspect's Race /Etlmlclly Suspect's Race/Ethnicity The number of hate crimes carried out by groups of three or more 56% Ill Black suspects rose by 25% compared 71% Ill Latino 32% D White to 2006, from 85 to 155. One 25% White horrific case involved 16 suspects 6% Ill Latino 8% Multi-Racial attacking an Iranian student on his 6% Multi Racial way home from high school. The 1% Ill American Indian/Alaskan Native previous year there were many 1% Middle Eastern more crimes committed by even Unidentified suspeds commiffed 12 addiffana/ crimes Unidentified suspects commiffed II addiffanol crimes larger groups. 11 The Challenge of Classifying Racially Motivated Gong Violence Beginning in 2006, the Pasadena ; the District Attorney's Office which : made requests for additional Police Department IPPD) began ! also issued public statements about ; information or clarification. In investigating a series of attacks on ; racial animus being a significant ! response, acting PPD Chief of individual' Latinos by groups of j factor in the selection of the vic- ; Police Christopher Vicino provided African Americans who were : tims. By August, 2007 PPD had i a statement, which in relevant part allegedly gang members. Many of ; investigated 69 of these crimes · says that the Pasadena Police the victims were immigrant .low- j and made arrests in the majority of .: Department theorized these crimes wage workers who were beaten ; these cases; 56 were reported to . as being racially motivated, but "in and robbed. Police officials saw · PPD in 2006, 19 were reported in ; many of these investigations it was 2007 many of these crimes as racially ! · ; impossible to meet the legal crite motivated, given the paHern of : However in 2006 the PPD submit- ; ria required to submit these cases aHacks, and since "the act of tak- : ted infor~ation ab~ut only a hand- : [to the prosecutors] as hate crimes, ing the victim's property appeared · ful of crimes that fit this profile for . as they lacked overt acts by the to be an afterthought." This '· inclusion in this report. In 2007, : suspects that would prove race as appeared to be corroborated by : the PPD submitted none. LACCHR ': the motive." Hate Crimes Related to Terrorism or Middle East Conflicts Following the spike in hate crimes after the aHacked by white supremacists who used bath 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, this report has racial and religious slurs. examined the subset of hate crimes in which the victims are blamed for acts of terrorism or for ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. In There was also a case in which o 2007, the number of crimes which lit this pro black Muslim cob driver was file fell from 25 to 7. However, in addition to these, it is unknown how many of the other ten attacked by white supremacist anti-Middle Easterner and three anti-Muslim crimes reported were also inspired by such In one of the odder cases, two realtors met at vengeful sentiment, but the suspects did not an open house. When one learned that the verbally express it. other was French, he became enraged and Four of these crimes were simple assault, and attacked him, yelling, "You guys are pussy there were single cases of vandalism, aggra chicken bastards!" !referring to France's oppo vated assault and intimidation, constituting a sition to the U.S.,Ied invasion of Iraq]. The vic violence rate of 57%. tim was able to push the suspect out of the home, but he remained in front, shouting and The slurs invoked in these crimes targeted kicking the door. Middle Easterners three times, and there were single cases in which Jews, Pakistanis and Among the suspects, three were Latino, two French people were singled out. There was also were white and in the remaining cases the a case in which a black Muslim cab driver was race was unknown. JMr 12 ;,. Commission Actions to Address Hate Crimes in 2007 League has prepared them to con The Commission engages in pro· that has introduced an innova duct peer to peer anti-bias trainings. grams, initiatives, and partner· tive 'civic organizing' pilot in ships to prevent and respond Ia Pasadena-Altadena that engages hate crime throughout los stakeholders in developing and Angeles County. Addressing implementing comprehensive 5 underlying issues and conditions strategies for addressing the root of intergroup conflict through of the problem. education, intervention and pre vention is critical to a proactive li!i Holding Network Against !iii School-wide student-pro stance against hate crime. Hate Crime meetings with gov duced 'human relations' themed ernment agencies, law enforce These actions include: assemblies such as the visit of ment, community organizations Queen Rania of Jordan to Taft and .educators. ii¥1 Working with teens affected High to speak on tolerance and by hate crimes and interracial !1!1 Media Image Coalition's anti-discrimination as part of her conflict through the zerohour/ global campaign, the second No Haters Here! school-based advocacy efforts in the radio, tel annual Unity Week assembly at and community capacity build evision and film industry. Pomona High, and actor Lou ing initiatives. !!ii Coordinating .the Hate Crime Gossett Jr. speaking at Hart High !iii Responding to intergroup crises Victim Assistance and Advocacy on ERACISM, his non-profit organ in schools and communities. Initiative. ization to end violence. ~~ launching a Racialized Gang Conducting hate crime train Violence Prevention Initiative ing, education and outreach. Staff also supported: Working to Institutionalize Human Relations in the Schools Parent Action Teams who met regularly and organized parent The zerohour/No Haters Here! · !!ii Full-credit human relations trainings and workshops. youth initiative was launched in ; classes being offered at Taft, 2006 to institutionalize human . Artesia, Pomona high schools. :l! Campus Action Teams of zero hour students at each school, relations in both the curriculum : a1! Leadership development and including three such groups at Taft and culture of five high schools : human relations training through HS (Hearl, Peer Mediation, and that have experienced serious . workshops on stereotypes, bias, Spirit Class), who were trained intergroup conflict. On-going ; the cycle of violence, different and supported in their student-initi human relations education and : aspects of identity, and culture and ated campus-wide programs such training is provided to Artesia, ! community. as 'No Name Calling' week, Gardena, Grant, Hart, Pomona : !!ii Retreats where A World of : Denim Day, Day of Silence, Cinco and Taft high schools. Successful ; Difference training on anti-bias de Mayo, African-American efforts include: · education from the Anti-Defamation History Month and many others. 2001 Hi.lio (rime !?ffJO!I W~'M.J.,1Ni!inliflRi!i:1fiar~~ 0rg 13 Promoting Safer Schools and Communities by Engaging in Strategic Collaboration Working with county agencies, local : law Enforcement agencies and cities, school districts, law enforce· : School Districts reported a decline men! and community organizations : in hate acts and interracial tensions is vital to keeping schools and com· . at Hart and Pomona High schools in munities safe from hate. reports to the Board of Education and in the media. The Juvenile Justice Task Force is a partnership beiween the Commission, · For example, school district officials LA County Probation Department, : submitted a report to the Hart Union Children's Planning Council, ; High School governing board that Department of Children and Family . bias related acts motivated by prej Services, LAUSD, LA City Human udice against another students Relations Commission, and commu-: because of race, religion or sexual nity organizations covering the west; orientation decreased by more than San Fernando Valley. 50 percent [from 24 acts during the fall 2007 semester to 52 reported The Task Force launched three-year ; the previous year). Pomona Police pilot projects in 2007 in Pacoima : Chief Joe Romero was quoted in a and Van Nuys at Grant and San : Daily Bulletin story on the Unity . Fernando High schools, Madison . Week assembly saying "[s]omething . Bringing Stakeholders Together and and Maclay Middle schools, and has definitely changed al Pomona .· Coordinating Inter-Agency Cooperation Erwin, Kittridge and Pacoima · High as calls for service have dropped Charter Elementary schools considerably since the human rela- . The Commission's Nelwork Against lions efforts have taken off." Hate Crime hasted three meetings of The JJTF is designed to prevent : its countywide nelwork of community youth and families from entering : Only one hate crime was reported · organizations, local, state and feder or becoming further entrenched in : in the Hart district last year, and al officials, human relations commis the juvenile justice system by engag- ; none have been reported so far this · sions and law enforcement covering: ing the community to provide: year. Only four bias-motivated acts : comprehensive prevention and inter- : were reported in junior highs in Fall : lll The Harbor Gateway murder of vention strategies for effective and ; 2007, compared to 35 incidents : Cheryl Green and the long Beach sustained coordination of city, coun- : reported in Fall 2006. The one hate : Halloween night altacks; ty, and community health and : crime reported in 2007 was a bat- : !Iii Racial Hate Crimes and Gang human resources, services, a~d : tery incident by a student who . Initiation - Focus on Pasadena; information. claimed to be a white supremacist. 11! The white supremacist group, Monitoring and Contributing to State and Federal Hate Crime Legislation Berdoo Skins; !i1 The nelwork also hosted Professor The Commission monitored Mike Eng, Chair of the Karen Umemoto who discussed her state and federal legislation that Assembly Select Committee on book, The Truce: lessons from an LA improves or strengthens hate Hate Crimes, to support legisla Gang War, on the gang violence that crime reporting and enforce- lion to strengthen state laws became a broader community con ment. Staff worked closely with against discrimination or bias flict beiween Blacks and Latinos in California State Assemblymember towards protected classes. Venice-Oakwood at three community forums on racialized gang conflict. 14 !.o; (rwmy Humor. Rdalio:Jr. f0mmi.Hian Providing Training Hate Crime Victim Assistance and Valley Hate Crimes Alliance, long Hate crime and diversity training Advocacy Initiative. Beach hate crime response was provided to law enforcement team, Association for Criminal agencies; city officials, commis· The Commission also carried out Justice Research (California) confer- sions, agencies; an d at con fer- hate crime trainings to Cu Iver City ences including the Commission's . Commission on Parks, Recreation : ence, LA. County's annual Diversity Corporate Advisory Commission : and Community Services, graduate : Conference, and the lesbian and and seven non-profit community : psychology students at Alliant Gay Psychotherapy Associations organizations that support our i International University, San Fernando · annual conference. Providing Hate Crime Assistance, Education and Outreach Addressing Stereotypes in the Media The Commission established a : ~'!! Promoted and/or distributed The Commission's Media Image Hate Crimes Victim Assistance : several thousand hate crime Coalition co-sponsored a screen and Advocacy Initiative in 2000 ~ awareness resources and materials ing of "Freedom Writers" at in partnership with the Anti- : in multiple languages. Paramount Studios for zerohour Defamation league, Asian Pacific students, followed by a panel American legal Center, Coalition : discussion on 'media images' for Humane Immigrant Rights of ': communities and 'diversity in the film indus los Angeles, L.A. Gay and lesbian : groups in am- try' with actors from the film. Center, Muslim Public Affairs ~ flicl aaoss LA. Council, South Asian Network and ; Southern Christian leadership Conference. The partners: : Staff responded to dozens of hate : crimes or incidents, racialized Ill Provided assistance to over 200 : gang violence and community/ victims of hate, discrimination or , :_ school intergroup crises following bias-crimes and non~crimes. ; brawls, shootings or deaths by "'Organized several hundred hate : offering various services and support crime education and training pro- · to address the initial incident and grams in targeted communities. ; subsequent community response. 11' 15 A Closer Look at Racial Hate Crimes in 200 7 Crimes based on the victim's real or ; 151 simple assaults, 133 cases of • At Men's Central Jail in down perceived race, ethnicity or nation· : vandalism, and 40 intimidation town Los Angeles, three Latino al origin (which are referred to · crimes. This represented significant inmates choked their black cell as simply "racial hate crimes" ; increases in the numbers of aggra mate with a sock and bashed his in this report) increased 32% in ~ voted assaults (89%) and simple j head, while yelling the name of 2007 from 405 to 535 and grew ; assaults (23%). Over9ll, 71% of j their gang, "Southsider." as a percentage of all hate crimes, : racial hate crimes were violent com- : • In Pacoima, a Latino gang mem from 63% to 68%. Crimes target- : pared to 67% * the previous year. ber stabbed an Asian man in the ing African Americans, Latinos, · neck during a house party. The Asians, and whites all rose. • 2007 Attempted Murders victim was standing with his girl friend in the home's driveway Rates of Victimization • In Inglewood, a Latino neighbor ; • stabbed his African American when the suspect stabbed him mul Consistent with previous years, ; neighbor in the stomach after being . tiple times without provocation. anti-black crimes were not only : ejected from 0 party for fighting. ; by far the most numerous but . He shouted, "I'm going to kill the ·. Location also increased 21% comp~red : Nigga!" and continued to use racial : Thirty-nine percent of racial hate to 2006. Although Afncan : slurs after police arrested him. crimes took place in public places, Americans constitute only 9% of : the total population in Los Angeles j • In Bassett (an unincorporated area) · 27% in residences, 16% in busi County, they represented 58% : a black man shot a Latino man in . nesses and 11% at schools. This (31 0) of reported racial hate crime ! the head with a 12 gauge shotgun. · distribution is similar to 2006. victims. Anti-latina crimes grew ; 39% from 89 to 125. There were ; Differences in Levels of Violence 35 anti-Asian crimes (up 17%), 31 : ··----~--······-······---···-· Anti-Latina crimes were the most anti-white (up 94%1 and 15 anti- : Los Angeles County Population by likely to be violent (85%) followed Middle Easterner (up 15%). Anti- : Roce/Ethnicity closely by anti-white crimes (81 %) . Armenian (15) remained the same. ; 70% of anti-black crimes were vio Racial hate crimes in general, and : lent, as were 60% of anti-Middle anti-black crimes in particular, i Easterner, 47% of anti-Armenian and have grown steadily as a propor- : 43% of anti-Asian crimes. Compared lion of all hate crimes since 2001. to the previous year, the rates of violence rose for all these groups except for Asians, which declined, Criminal Offenses and Armenians, which remained There were no murders and four : the same. attempted murders in 2007, an : 47% IIIII Latino improvement compared to two : 29% [] White (Non-lonna) *Due to changes in methodology murders and 13 attempted mur- : 13% Asian/Pacific Islander (see page 27), the 2006 violence ders reported the previous year. 9% • Black rates cited in this report will be dif 3% MiddleEastern ferent than those our previously There were 157 aggravated assaults, ; 2% Armenian published 2006 report. 16 La~ ~~ugro/i).l Caumy N11man RBifl!ioM (ammf.Eiai! 2007 Racial Hate Crime: Who is Targeting Whom? .,.- -~ TARGETED GROUP: Armenian African Asian/Pacific I Latino Middle I White I American Islander !astern ! SUSPECT: American Indian/Alaskan Native - - - I 1 - - I ----~----·~---"------~-----·- ··------.. ---.-----·-··--· Asian/Pacific Islander - 1 - - 1 3 African American 1 -- 64 1 10 Latino 4 170 13 6 3 12 ., .... ,...... ,., ... ,.. ____ ,"'"' Middle Eastern --- 1 -- White 2 59 7 36 2 1 ------~ ---~----· -·-- Multi Racial Group - 8 3 6 - 1 ,,, .. ,_...... ,...... ,... ········ •...... Unknown 8 72 12 11 8 9 ,...... Total 15 310 35 125 15 36 Victim-Suspect Correlations Here are the largest suspect racial groups involved in each targeted victim group. There were clear patterns in the races of victims and suspects: Anti-black crimes: 71% of suspects were Latino and 25% were white. Anti-Latina crimes: 56% of suspects were black and 32% were white. Anti-Asian Pacific crimes: 57% of suspects were Latino and 30% were white. Anti-white crimes: 44% of suspects were Latino and 37% were black. Anti-Armenian crimes: 57% of suspects were Latino and 29% were white. Anti-Middle Eastern crimes: 43% were Latino, 29% were white and 14% were black. February 16, 2007 - Venice Booth old white mole with metal pipes. The victim wos Fuck wetbocks ond bonners!" At a skate pork an the grounds of o church, walking through on alley when he heord one of three white teenagers ottocked two Africon the suspects shout, "Hey white boy!" The su> December 3, 2007 - North Hollywood AKorean woman walked post o group of 11 Ameriron boys. As the victims walked post, one peds then chased the victim and beat him Latino youth when she heard them soy, "Ching of the suspects said "look of those niggers ... repeatedly with the pipes until he wos able to ching ching." The woman told them lo shu! up What ore you going to do niggers?" During the esmpe. and walked owoy. As she walked owoy, the sus ensuing fight, one of the suspects hit one of the peds chased her and threw o rock and woler of victims in the head with o crutch. Moy 20, 2007 · Glendole her. Alolino mole victim wos ambushed in on alley Moy 7, 2007- North Hollywood way by three Armenian moles who bent him Four Afriron Ameriron moles o!!orked a 22-yeor- unconscious after they yelled "Armenian power! Cont. poge 19 Anti-Immigrant Hate Crimes Despite the continued heated pub- :'These crimes were overwhelmingly by anti-immigrant animus but it lie debate about immigration, the ; anti-Latino (92%). There were may not be explicitly verbalized. number of crimes in which specific : also lone cases in which anti-Asian 1 anti-immigrant comments were and anti-Middle Eastern slurs made, such as, "Go back to your 1 were used. The majority of these country," decreased slightly from :crimes (66%) were committed by 42 to 39, Ninety-two percent of ·· whites and 26% of the suspects these crimes were violent, a slight : were black. The previous year decrease from the previous ; black suspects who made anti- For example, a suspect who : immigrant statements outnumbered year. The largest number (49%) assaults a Latino victim while whites. occurred in public places, but 36% : yelling, "Dirty Mexican!" may occurred in businesses and 1 0% in ; It is important to note that many other hate immigrants as much as one residences. ; racial crimes may also be inspired who specifically shouts, "Go back to where you came from!" Targeted Groups by Rate of Violence' for Racial Hate Crimes Anti-Interracial Relationship 100 Crimes 11112007 ' ~2006 Crimes targeting inter-racial cou so ples or racially-mixed friends rose dramatically from 11 to 31 . The percentage of these crimes which 60 were violent grew from 64% to 68%. One of these crimes was anti·latino in nature, a second was 40 anti-Asian and the remainder were anti-black. More than half of these 20 cases involved Latino males who attacked or terrorized Latinos who had black husbands or boyfriends. 0 This paijern is different from previ Asian Armenian Middle African White Latino Easterner American ous years, where the majority of cases involved white males attack *Due to changes in methodology (see page 27), the 2006 violence rotes cited in this report will be different ing white females with black hus than those our previously published 2006 report. bands or boyfriends. m 18 ''" Racial Hate Crimes by Criminal Offense Morrh 31, 2007 -lo Puente Three Afriwn-Ameriwn moles were silting outside on oporlmenl wmplex when o wr pulled up. The Aggravated Assault* lotino driver pointed o revolver at them ond soid "Where ore you from?" They turned to run but Simple Assault* were confronted by two additional loti no suspects who pulled revolvers from their woistbonds and shot ot them. The suspects rhosed the virtims, wught one ond severely beot him with o choir. The next doy at the romplex, o Latino virtim who knew the virtims in the earlier rose, was sitting in her ror holding her young daughter. A lolino mole suspect approarhed the wr, pulled her hair and plored o hard object ogoinsl her temple tho! the viclim believed wos o gun. He told her, "You nigger lover! You ond your nigger friends better move out or you and your daughter ore gonno gel hurt." Moy II, 2007 - South los Angeles Seven African Ameri.ron juvenile susperls beat, tried to rob, and spot on two Latino adult victims. The victims were walking down the street when 0 the susperls opproorhed them on their bikes. One of the susperls shouted "Fuck Mexiwns!" os the *As noted in Melhodology Section, some uiminol offenses ore being grouped under different cotegories. Therefore, the num· susperls dismounted ond surrounded the virtims. bars for 20a6 listed in this rhort ore different than ilie numbers published in the 2006 hate aime report. The susperls oltodred. When one of the virtims fried to co lithe police, they fled. Awitness report· ed !hot the youth hod o history of robbing Racial Hate Crimes by Known Targeted Group lotinos. While in the wstody of police the sus· perfs odmi!led to being members of the Hoover gong. July 17, 2007- Azuso 310 Two lotino middle srhool students beat o develop African American 237 mentally disobled Afriron American student on o school bus. The susperts were sitting behind the Latino victim ond slopped him on the bock of his neck while calling him "nigger" ond "moyote". The Asion/Pocinc Islander victim pushed one of the susperls in self defense. The suspects then punrhed him multiple limes in the fore. The virtim lofer reported that the sus· perfs hod o history of calling him rociol slurs. Middle Easterner 15 13 Moy 2, 2007 - Walls A22-yeor-old African American mole screamed, 15 "Furk oil Mexirons! Furk oil Mexicans! I'm going to kill them oil!" He then randomly ossoulted NonWhite* two Latinos, oged 5 ond 19, with rocks. Moy 15, 2007- Sylmar 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 An African American mole rode his bike up to o lotino mole, shouted, "I hate you fucking This table oggregotes aimes torgeting vorious Asion, lotino ond Middle Eostem groups. Middle Eostemer also indudes Ironton Mexicans!" and strurk him with o pod lock. ill ond lsroeli. In 2007 iliere were single crimes in whirh ilie torgeted groups were Arricon or Germon, ond two rrtmes torgeting ilie Fren{h. *Crimes targeting non-whites involved white power symbols but the exoct torget wos not known. 19 A Closer Look at Sexual Orientation Hate Crimes Hale crimes motivated by sexual > 76% of these crimes were violent; : increase in the number of robberies orientation> increased 9% in 2007 : a percentage higher than either ; from 3 to 1 1. from 102 to 111. As in 2006, the> racial (71 %) or religious (25%) · overwhelming number of these : crimes. 42% of these crimes were . In past years, whites were the . . simple assaults 23%0 were cases >. largest group of victims in these cnmes targeted gay men (92%). : ' : • • . . . : of vandalism 17% were aggravat- ; cnmes. However, 1n 2007, Lalinos E1ght percent of these cnmes tar- .. ' : . > ed assaults and only 4% were ; constituted 42% of the victims, fol- geted lesbians. : ' · .: cases of intimidation. The biggest:. lowed by whites (38%), blocks Consistent with the previous year,'· change in criminal offenses was on> (14%) and Asians (6%). Sexual Orientation Hate Crimes by Criminal Offense • Percentage • 2007 2006 Change from 2006 Simple Assault* 2% Vandalism -4% Aggravated Assault* 27% Robbery 267% Intimidation* Disorderly :33% Sexual Assault N/A Rope N/A *As noted in Methodology SecHon, some uimino! ·offenses ore being grouped under different categories. Therefore the numbers for 2006 listed in this chart ore different thon the numbers pub lished in the 2006 hole uime report. 20 Lr:1~ (r;Wifjc Hurw:;; Rr)idhtrM C0mmissirm Sexual Orientation Hate Crimes Victims of sexual orientation hate 17% whites. Among Asian victims, by Known Suspect Race/Ethnicity crimes have been most often · half of the suspects were Asian attacked by suspects of the same . and half were white.* race. In 2007, however, in cases : in which the suspect was identi· : lied, white victims were victimized by Latinos as frequently as by • other whites (39%), and 21% by : blacks. Forty-nine percent of · Latino victims were targeted by · other Latinos, 37% by blacks and · Crimes motivated by sexual orien· 23% by whites. For black victims, lotion occurred most frequently in 34% Ill latina a much higher percentage (75%) : public places (50%), followed by 30% Ill Black were attacked by members of their : residences (29%), and businesses 28% [] White same race, 25% by Latinos and : (17%). ~ 5% Multi·Rociol Group 2% Asian/Pacific Islander 1% Middle Eostener Unidentified suspects were involved in February 28, 2007- Whittier suspect coiled them "Faggots" and fallowed 23 oddiffonol Climes Three latina students attacked another them to their vehicle. He continued to verbal latina student in the boys bathroom of o high ly harass them ond stood in front of the cor school gymnasium. The victim was changing to prevent them from leaving. When the out of his color guard uniform. During the owner of the vehicle stated tho! he wos going beating the suspects said, "Why do you hove to coli police, the suspect threw o 40 oz. bot· to be like that?" ond coiled the victim tie of beer crocking the windshield. Victims of Sexual Orientation "Fucking faggot!" Hate Crimes hy Roce/Ethnicity June 4, 2007 - South los Angeles July 1, 2007 -West Hollywood Two block moles and two block females Two Asian mole victims were struck repeated attacked two latina lesbians waiting of o bus in the face by two white mole suspects who stop. The suspects drove up in o von and yelled,"Fucking faggots! I hate you mather told the victims "Fuck you bitches! Bunch of fuckers." goy bitches! What's up?l'm going to get out July 2, 2007 - Norwalk and hit you lesbian bitches. let me see you Three lotino men were leoving o residence smile one more lime before I hit you in your when they were confronted by o lotino mole mouth!" The suspects then exited their vehi· suspect who oppeored to be intoxicated. The de ond beat up the victims. Mi 42% Ill Latino 38% D White * The reason that some of these ligures do not add up to 100% is because some of the victims were affacked by 14% Ill Black groups of mixed race suspec/s. 6% Asian/Pacific Islander Note: Anti·lronsgender hate crime is not counted in this secffon. Consistent with state low, onff·tronsgender offocks 1% 1111 Middle Easterner ore classified in this report os gender·bosed bate crimes. 21 A Closer Look at Religious Hate Crimes Hale crimes motivated by the vic· victims because most people prob- : involve lace-to-lace acts. In such tim's actual or perceived religion ably believe that they are safest in . cases, it is nearly impossible to grew 17%, increasing from 90 in their homes. Fourteen percent of . identify suspects in terms of race 2006 to 105 in 2007. As in previ crimes occurred at businesses and : or ethnicity, approximate age, etc. ous years, they were overwhelm the same number in public places. : ingly anti-Jewish (7 4%). Thirteen Twelve percent took place in : Suspects were not percent targeted Protestants, eight schools. percent were anti-Catholic and identified in 78% In 78% of religious crimes, no sus- · three percent were anti-Muslim religious hate crimes peel was identified. The high per- As in the past, only a fraction of centage of unidentified suspects is : these crimes 125%) were violent. due to the fact that most religious : Of the 26 suspects who were iden Sixty-three percent were acts of hate crimes are cases of vandal- • tified, the majority 180%) were vandalism, ten percent were sim ism, threatening calls and e-mails, • white and most 154%) were adults ple assault and ten percent were and bomb threats which do not · over the age of 25. !* intimidation. Religious hate crimes Religious Hate Crimes by Victims of Religious Crimes by were overwhelmingly Torgeted Group Known Race/Ethnicity anli-.fewish The largest number of religious crimes {39%) occurred in resi dences. It is often assumed that religious crimes primarily target synagogues, mosques, and other houses of worship. In fact, only 74% Jewish 82% [:=] White 24% took place at religious sites. 13% [] Christian 13% 1111 lotino Crimes that target individuals 8% 1111 Catholic 4% Middle Eostener where they live can be assumed to 3% 1111 Muslim 2% 1111 Block be particularly distressing to the 2% Mormon 22 L1r fwge!fi:5 Coumy Humrm Rf!!atiorE Commission Religious Hate Crimes by Criminal Offense ' Percen!age Percentage afT alai Change 2007 from 2006 Vandalism 66 52 63% 27% Simple Assault* Intimidation* Aggravated Assault* Burglary 2 2 0 *As noted in Methodology Sec~on, some criminol offenses ore being grouped under different cotegories. Therefore the numbers for 20061isfed in this chort ore different thon the numbers published in rhe 2006 hole uime report, Religious Hole Crimes by Known Religious Hate Crimes January 1, 2007- Son Dimes Location Unknown susperfs egged ond threw toilet paper Suspect Race/Ethniciiy by on o Jewish family's house. The suspect coiled the victim repeatedly soon offer the incident ond on the third coli said "You Jew! If's going to be the Holocaust oil over ogoin." AprilS, 2007- Glen dole Adevout Catholic woman discovered her cor hod been vandalized by someone who used a marker to write "666," o swastika, and "Anarchy." The suspect also sloshed the victim's tires. The victim moy hove been singled out because she hos o Jesus bumper sticker on her cor. 70% D White 39% [] Residence September 17, 2007- Beverly Hills 15% Ill latina 27% Ill Religious Site An unknown suspect drew o swastika on the wolf of o Jewish family's home. They moy hove been 7% Middle Eastener 14% Business 12% School targeted because they mounted o mezuzah on their 7% Ill Black door !rome. There were two other similar ocfs of 8% 1111 Other vandalism tho! some week in Beverly Hills.ll!l Unidentified suspec~ were involved in.78 oddiffonol crimes; 2007 Nuff; (rimt! l?&J:Oi! ·---· wwvi.UI1mlwn~e!;,tioa{ r1i'tJ 23 A Closer Look at Gender and Disability Crimes Tronsgender victims were targets in the great majority of gender-based crimes Gender Hate Crimes groups, transgender hate crime: club! You are not welcome!" The victims have experienced the high-; victims tried to escape by cross Hale crime motivated by gender ~ est rates of violence of any group : ing the street but the suspects fol in LA County more than doubled ' (with the exception of 2006), In ; lowed, maced, and struck the vic- in 2007 from 7 lo 15. One of · 2007, these crimes included six.· tims with a club. those crimes was anti-female and . simple assaults and batteries, five ; involved a Latina elementary : agravated assaults, two robberies, ; Nearly all of the anti-transgender school teacher who found graffiti ; and a rape. crimes occurred in public places including the word, "bitch" and a ; and nearly half the victims were drawing of a vagina on her class- : of room door and walL The other 14 · All gender-identity hate attacked in locations known as victims were singled out because ' congregating points for sex workers. of gender identity.* aimes were violent Of the 14 anti-transgender crimes, Disability Hate Crime male-to-female transgender women , In the gender identity crimes, were targets in nine cases. In an : seven of the victims were Latino, , There was a lone hate crime that additional case, a woman waiting i five were white, one was black · targeted the disabled. A Latino sus at a food catering truck was beat- ; and one was unidentified. The! pect kicked a white mentally-dis- en by three males suspects for ; maiority of the suspects were; abled male victim at a bus stop, wearing traditionally male cloth- : Latino and in one strange case, two ~ ing. A man and a woman both ~ gay Latino men confronted two calling him "retard." The suspect tried to intervene and protect the · Latina transgender women in front ; had been harassing the victim for victim and were also attacked, one . of a night club, yelling, "This is a gay · several months. !il with a glass bottle. In a final case, a man punched a lesbian in the : *Transgender people are individuals whose appearance or behavior face because her partner was : does not conform to society's expectations of traditional male and dressed in men's clothing and the : female roles. They strongly identify with a gender other than the one suspect observed the two kissing. they were assigned at birth, and may "cross dress," or modify their appearance with hormones, surgery, or other procedures. It is common All of the gender-identity crimes · for homophobic slurs to be used during the commission of these offens were violent. Since this report : es. In general, the lines between gender- and sexual orientation-motivat began tracking rates of violence · ed hate crimes are blurred because homophobia and hostility to non by motivation and targeted : traditional gender identity are closely related. 24 !.no: (G!mfy Humrm Rc!Miui:. (ammt;girm Hate Crime Prosecutions in 2007 Of those hate crimes in los Angeles County : motivated (65%) and there were smaller which are referred far prosecution, the ; numbers of crimes based on religion (26%), District Attorney's Office prosecutes the ! gender (6%) and sexual orientation (3%), great majority. In 2007, law enforcement : agencies referred 188 hate crimes to the : District Attorney's Office, compared to 152 ; in 2006. Charges were filed in 167 cases : in 2007, compared to 129 the previous : year. Adults were charged in 85 of these i cases and juveniles in 82, In the adult : Th e U , S, Attorney , s Off'1ce genera 11 y on 1y cases, 7 4 were charged with felonies and : t h t , , h' h th , , 1 : prosecu es a e cnmes 1n w 1c e cnmma 11 with misdemeanors, Of those crimes, , If , 1 f d 1 1 0 1 : o ense VIO ates a e era ow. n y one 59% were racial, 1 1% were based on sex· : h , , , : sue cnme was tned 1n 2007, the same as ual orientation and there were single crimes in 2006. A white man was charged with motivated by religion and disability, : sending a series of racially abusive and There were 32 cases referred to the Office : threatening e-mails and text-messages to an of the Los Angeles City Attorney, which by [ African-American woman who was the law handles only misdemeanors. Sixteen of : former roommate of his girlfriend. He pled those were filed as hate crimes and three : guilty to a misdmeanor of attempting to via were filed without hate crime enhancements. : late the victim's housing rights motivated by The largest number of these were racially- • racial bias, iii Review of 2007 Hate Crime Legislation ! lecting petition signatures to place ; revise the federal hate crimes law to ; on the statewide ballot an initiative i protect victims who are targeted Assembly Bill 394 (Levine) - to overturn SB 777. Save Our Kids ; based on their real or perceived gen The Safe Place to Learn Act pro- j Coalition has until August 29th, : der, gender identity, sexual orienta vi des protection for youth in o 2008 to gather 435,000 signa-: lion and disability. This bill became schools, including those who iden- ; lures for the initiative to be placed ! law on August 29, 2007. tify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or : on the November statewide ballot .. transgender {LGBT). It strengthens : A bl ( r nt R olu'l'otl 51 the state's ability to keep schools ' ssem y oncur e es ,, safe and fight bias and harassment _ (Spitzer) in schools by requiring the California - ACR 51 designated the month -_ The Matthew Shepard Local Law Department of Education to monitor of June 2007 as Hate Crimes Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act school compliance with the state's ; Awareness Month to increase . (Kennedy) existing anti-bias law, the Student • awareness about diversity, toler- · Although California law already once, and hate crimes. Safety and Violence Protection Act ; : covers hate crimes based on gen- of 2000. AB 394 guides school ; Assembly Joint Resolution 29 (Eng) • der, sexual orientation, gender districts in adopting and publiciz-; AJR 29 supports the Federal bill . identity, and disability, federal ing anti-harassment policies and : s 1105, Local Law Enforcement Hate ; prosecution of these crimes is need complaint procedures, updating . Crimes Prevention Act, also known . ed when local authorities are publications on school safety and : as the Matthew Shepard Act. It : unable or unwilling to prosecute. discrimination, keeping records of : asks Congress and the President to ' S 1145 would have amended fed- complaints and how they were eral hate crime law by adding pro- resolved, and providing training tection for victims of gender, sexu- for teachers on how to maintain a al orientation, gender identity, and safe learning environment for all disability hate crime to the existing students. This bill became law on list of protected groups {race, January 1, 2008. Assembly Bill 2199 (Saldana) AB 2799 would require each color, national origin, religion). county to establish a hate crimes Additionally this bill would have Senate Bill 111 !Kuehl) commission or direct an existing provided Federal assistance to The California Student Civil Rights board or committee to review the slate, local jurisdictions, and Act strengthens student civil rights incidents of hate crimes within the Indian tribes to prosecute hate protections to ensure that all stu county and ensure that local law crimes against people based on dents will have the opportunity to enforcement agencies are respond real or perceived race, religion, or be safe in school. This law clarifies ing to hate crimes and reporting national origin, gender, sexual ori and simplifies the current list of these crimes to .the Attorney entation, gender identity, or dis protected classes and the kinds General as specified. It .was. read ability. The House passed the of prohibited instruction, activities, in the Senate and sent to and instructional materials in the Committee for assignment on May Matthew Shepard Local Law Education Code. This bill became 29, 2008 Enforcement Act of 2007. The bill law on January 1, 2008. Currently, later died in Conference on the Save Our Kids Coalition is col- L •. ~--~-~-----··------·················· December 6, 2007. e 26 J.,o; Methodology The 2007 Hate Crime Report pro· : hate crimes. Nevertheless, we vides a statistical snapshot of : encourage law enforcement and reported hate crimes to inform : community organizations to report efforts Ia combat bias-motivated : hate incidents because they can be activity. Such data collection and : early indicators of intergroup ten analysis provide policy-makers ! sion and conflict. and practitioners insight into the 1 urgent issues and greatest needs : for education, prevention, interven- ; lion, victim assistance and advoca- : cy. The Commission receives : reports from law enforcement, : school districts and universities, · community based organizations, . and directly from victims. We care- : fully eliminate any duplicates, such : Of the 930 reports of hate events as a hate crime submitted by both ; (both crimes and incidents) a law enforcement agency and a : received for 2007, 614 events school district. We review each case : involving 763 victims and 1075 sus counted in this report to ensure it peds met the legal criteria for hate meets the criteria of the legal defini- crime,s and are included in this lion of hate crime in the California report. Unless otherwise noted, all penal code. Those that do not meet numbers in the report refer to vic that standard are not included as tims, rather than cases. i!i 27 Understanding the Numbers 8!i If a violent crime is committed dalism, in which the informa Changes in Categories for Criminal against multiple victims, we tion provided in a law enforce Offenses count each victim separately. ment agency's report was too This year we adiusted our cat minimal to determine specific !ill We report the perpetrators' egorization of some criminal bias motivation. These are intended targeted group offenses to conform with marked as "unknown target instead of relying on the actu reporting standards from the ed group." California Attorney General al identity of the victim as a and the Justice Department, proxy. This accounts for cases It is important to note that fluc and to allow comparisons in which the actual identities tuations in data from year to with other crime statistics. of the victims are not speci year do not necessarily indi fied or where the victim's cate trends. Sometimes, an identity is mistaken (e.g., increase one year follows an Current Offense Category when a Latino victim is per equivalent decrease the previ *Prior Offense Category ceived by the perpetrator as ous year. Multi-year data can African American). Aggravated Assault give a better sense of trends. *Assault with a Deadly A handful of cases involved Weapon, Assault with Intent !II The report may not reflect the epithets targeting more than to Cause Great Bodily lniury, actual outcome of the investi one group. Therefore, the Brandishing a Weapon gation of individual cases. total number of cases by moti We receive the original police vation or by targeted group Simple Assault incident report for cases in actually exceeds the 763 *Assault and Battery, Throwing which the investigation is hate crimes for 2007. Obiects at a Vehicle with ongoing. We may review it Intent to Commit Bodily lniury i!l Again this year we present and include it before the suspects' race in terms of the investigation is completed or Disorderly Conduct proportion of crimes commit charges are filed. Therefore, *Annoying Phone Call or E ted by members of that the number of hate crimes mail, Challenging to a Fight, racial/ethnic group, rather reported here may differ from Computer Hacking, Displaying than the race of individual the reporting law enforcement Swastika to Terrorize Property suspects involved for each vic agency for a given iurisdic Owner, Disturbing the Peace, tim of a hate crime. We have tion. Reckless Driving also separated out those il!\ Some numbers referring to cases involving multiracial Intimidation 2006 have changed since groups of suspects. *Bomb Threat, Criminal last year's report due to an Threat, Stalking li!l We also received a handful ongoing process of updates of reports, usually minor van- and corrections. Wil: 28 '" Appendix A: Reporting Agencies Police Departments Alhambra Police Department : Glendora Police Deportment j Pasadena Police Deportment Arcadia Police Department i Hawthorne Police Department · Pomona Police Deportment Azusa Police Department • Hermosa Beach Police Deportment • Redondo Beach Police Deportment Baldwin Park Police Deportment · Huntington Pork Police Deportment Son Fernando Police Deportment Bell Police Department • Inglewood Police Deportment : Son Gabriel Police Department Bell Gardens Police Deportment Irwindale Police Department . Son Morino Police Deportment Beverly Hills Police Deportment La Verne Police Deportment .· Santo Monico Police Deportment Burbank Police Department ; Long Beach Police Department · Sierra Madre Police Department Claremont Police Department · Los Angeles Police Department • Signal Hill Police Department Covino Police Department : Los Angeles Sheriff's Deportment : South Gate Police Department Culver City Police Department • Manhattan Beach Police Deportment : South Pasadena Police Department Downey Police Department ~ Maywood Police Department j Torrance Police Deportment El Monte Police Department : Monrovia Police Deportment · Vernon Police Deportment El Segundo Police Department i Montebello Police Deportment • West Covino Police Deportment Gardena Police Deportment · Monterey Park Police Department • Whittier Police Deportment Glendale Police Deportment : Palos Verdes Police Department Educational Institutions Antelope Volley Union High School District ~ El Camino College : Occidental College Arcadia Unified School District · El Monte Union High School District · Pasadena Area Community College District Bonito Unified School District • Hermosa Beach City School District · Son Gabriel Unified School District California Poly Pomona i Lancaster School District · Santo Monico College Cloremont Unified School District · Los Virgenes Unified School District Sulphur Springs School District California State University, Dominguez Hills Lennox School District . Torrance Unified School District California State University, Long Beach . Long Beach Community College District • Valle Lindo School District California State University, Los Angeles · Los Angeles Community College District • Whittier Unified School District California State University, Northridge . Los Angeles Unified School District : William S. Hart Union High School District Downey Unified School District : Mt. Son Antonio Community College District Duorte Unified School District ; Newhall School District · Local Organizations Antelope Volley Hurnon Relations Task Force : Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of .· Muslim Public Affairs Council Anti·Defomotion League Los Angeles •· Southern Christian Leadership Council Asian Pacific American Legal Center · LA. Goy & Lesbian Center • South Asian Network 29 Appendix 8: Hate Crime by Service Planning Areas* ~~~~"~~-~~Na~:~···~-~~--~l··~~~:;i;;::ing •Qf:;,;:~::~-:r:as .···~·····~···1·.... :~~~i.a!~:-_s~·_n_~'~o~~es ·r;b~_f_r_~~i_,~~:l .• ·... ··. ·. · · •-· ' · •· · . I· Residents 1 ...~·•····"'' I·~·~---~.. ~'"'·"'· ·'""~·-•·-~·~~·•·······-4 1 Antelope Valley All of the Antelope Valley, including Acton, I Castaic, Gorman, lancaster, Palmdale, Santa 305,400 39 1 12.8 i Clarita, Valencia I I >···"' ~-----...... ,. ~~-~------~---.. -~----~---~ ,,,,, ______------+-~--~ '1 2 San Fernando Valley All of the San fernando Valley, including ! Glendale, Newhall, Northridge, San Fernando, 1, 981,961 190 9.6 ! Westlake Village, East & West Valley areas I ~----i-----~-·-----·-~---~.. ------..-· 1------·1------+-~---1 3 San Gabriel Valley All of the San Gabriel Valley, including Alhambra, Altadena, Foothill, Irwindale, la Puent~e 1,734,254 94 5.4 Pasadena, Pomona, El Monte ~+------~ ------·------~------~ 4 Atwater, Boyle Heights, Downtown, Eagle Rock, Echo Park, Glassell Park, Hancock Park, I 1 144 083 153 13.4 Koreatown, Hollywood, Pork la Brea, West 1 ' • Hollywood, Silverlake 5 West Beverly Hills, Culver City, Malibu, Marina del Rey, Pacific Palisades, Playa del Rey, Santa Monica, 613,191 6.0 Venice, Westchester '----· '------1------~------·---~l------~+------J------! 6 South Compton, Florence, lynwood, South los 955,054 101 10.6 Angeles, Watts '""'" ------l-----·------·--··-----+------j------·--+------·------1 7 East Vernon, Maywood, Huntington Park, Bellflower, South Gate, lakewood, Hawaiian Gardens, 1,285,210 45 3.5 Signal Hill, Montebello, Pico Rivera, Cerritos, lo Mirada, Whittier, la Habra 8 South Bay Inglewood, Torrance, long Beach, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes, Redondo Beach, San Pedro 1,500,185 87 5.8 I,,.,,,, ''''"''"'"'"~~-· ,,,,,.,__,,,,.,,._,,___,,,.,,,_,,.,,,,,,,,.,_,,,,,,,.,,,,C,,,,,,.,,,,,..,,,.,_""'"~"'"""'''"'"l'"''''"''""'"'_; There are 17 additional note crimes thot were not oble to be displayed becouse of insufficient address information. *Service Planning Areas (SPA's) represent eight geogrophic regions of lA County. SPA's are widely used for social service ond health core planning purposes and ore linked through SPA Councils to community-hosed organizations, neighborhood groups, cities, schools, county and city government agencies. Map of Hate Crime by Service Planning Areas 2007 Hale (lime 31 Acknowledgements This report was developed by the Human : Isabel Charleston, Byte Design. Thanks to Relations Commission Hate Crime Report: all of the Commission staff for their contri team members Jacob Brown, Lisa Hart, : butions and assistance. Special thanks to Isaac Martinez, Juan Carlos Martinez : Maria De La Rosa and Alex Luna of the and Marshall Wong (editor), Executive : District Attorney's Graphics Unit, Carol Director Robin S. Toma, Chief Deputy: Bowie and Pauline Belleville of the Los Director Richard Verches; report analysts . Angeles Police Department, and Lt. Brian Beniamin Angulo, Sikivu Hutchinson, Josh ; Moriguchi and Wendy Horn of the Los Parr, and Ray Regalado; staff member : Angeles Sheriff's Department for their con Sharon Williams and interns Francisco : tinuing support. We would also like to rec Reyes and John Soliman. Thanks to our : ognize and thank the law enforcement report contributors John Allen Ramseyer of: agencies, school districts, universities, and the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, · community-based organizations that pro Richard Kraft of the Los Angeles City : vided us with 2007 hate crime data used Attorney's Office, Tammy Spertus of the . in this report. U.S. Attorney's Office. Graphic design by : About the Back Cover Thanks also to the teenage artists whose : lured on the back cover of this report: art was recognized in the Torrance : Michelle Cho, Danbee Ha, Da Mi Kim, Ji Human Relations Forum Student Arts Yang Kim, Janice Lee, Christine Sea, and Contest, five images of which are fea- Angela Yoo. Dedication We dedicate the 2007 Hate Crime Report ; was member of the California Association to the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, : of Hate Crime Investigators. In 2001, the Jr., who 40 years ago had his life cut ; LA County Commission on Human short by a hate-motivated murder; and to : Relations honored him as its County Alan T. Kroner, a passionate bridge-builder : Volunteer of the Year. Alan knew the between diverse groups of people who : value of "paying it forward" and his per served for many years on the City of ·: sonal mission to bring fairness, iustice and Claremont's Human Relations Committee : love to his community will be deeply and Hate Crime Human Response Team. ·: missed by those who worked with him He also served as chairperson of the : and by those who have benefited from the Commission's Human Relations Mutual ; human relations and community service Assistance Consortium in his region and work to which he was devoted. l!ii Hollywood/West Hollywood