O.C. Hate Crime Reports at Lowest Level Since 1991

The number of reported hate crimes and incidents in Orange County dropped 20% to the lowest level in nearly a decade, according to a report released Tuesday by the Human Relations Commission.

Reported incidents targeting Latinos plummeted by more than half, from 21 in 1998 to 10 last year, the report stated, while acts involving African Americans and Asian Americans fell at a slower rate. The overall rate is the lowest since 1991.

Officials attributed the overall fall to the county’s booming economy, which has pushed overall crime numbers lower over the last decade. They also said the county saw a decline in the number of white males ages 13 to 29--the group responsible for most hate crimes.

But officials said police agencies and the public must remain vigilant.

“What goes on in the community can control the way people act and behave,” said Rusty Kennedy, executive director of the commission. “Sometimes, events in society allow people on the fringe to feel newly emboldened to act on their hideous beliefs.”

Kennedy fears that an economic downturn, for example, could lead some people to scapegoat minority communities as the cause of their hardships.

The county recorded 136 hate crimes and incidents in 1999, compared with 169 in 1998. Officials prosecuted 14 cases last year, the same as in 1998.

African Americans remain the most frequently targeted group, with 30 hate acts documented in 1999. They make up only about 2% of the county’s population.

Jews followed with 25, gays and lesbians with 20 and Asian Americans with 14.

The most common types of reported hate crime in 1999 were physical assault, 41, followed by vandalism, 38, and verbal assault, 25.

The report classifies some activities as “hate incidents,” which are actions motivated by hate but protected constitutionally as free speech. This includes the distribution of hate literature, which occurred 21 times in 1999.

The hate crimes recorded by the report ranged from kidnappings, stabbings, beatings and robberies to vandalism. In January 1999, two skinheads beat a developmentally disabled Vietnamese American man outside a business. Both pleaded guilty to assault and were sentenced to four years in state prison. In June, a Latino and an African American man kidnapped, beat and robbed a gay Latino. One was sentenced to three years in state prison, according to the report.

California law considers hate crime to be any illegal act motivated by race, religion, sexual orientation or physical or mental disability.

This report follows the pronouncement last week by a statewide hate crimes commission that many California law enforcement agencies chronically underreport hate crimes and incidents. The police, the commission said, fear the full numbers will tarnish their image.

Although commissioners in Orange County are confident their reporting system is accurate, they will hold hearings with police in upcoming months to discuss improvements. Each law enforcement agency submitted hate crime statistics this year, but commissioner Kenneth K. Inouye believes some numbers are less than accurate.

“There are some concerns that certain localities are not reporting all of their hate crimes,” Inouye said. “You look at some of those numbers and know they are lower than they should be.”

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Sharp Decrease

The number of hate crimes in Orange County last year was at its lowest level since 1992, according to the Orange County Human Relations Commission, with a 50 percent decrease in hate crimes against Latinos over a one-year period.

1991:

Overall: 126

Latino: 4

1999:

Overall: 136

Latino: 10

Source: Orange County Human Relations Commission