Hate Crimes Increase in Los Angeles
Posted on July 28, 2008
Filed Under Assault, Criminal Law, Criminal Threat, Felonies, Gangs, Hate Crimes, Law, Los Angeles, News, Police, misdemeanor |
Hate crimes in the Los Angeles area increased by 28% from 2006 to 2007, according to a recently released report by the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations. In 2007, 763 hate crimes were reported, a five-year high. Blacks were the most-targeted group, subjected to 39% (310) of hate crimes; followed by gays and lesbians (102 crimes), then Jews (78), Mexicans (71), Latinos (50), whites (31) and Asian/Pacific Islanders (18). Hate crimes against Moslems dropped from 11 in 2006 to 3 in 2007.
Violence between blacks and Latinos appears to be at the heart of the hate crime increase. Latinos were police suspects in 71% of the crimes against blacks. Blacks were suspects in 56% of the crimes against Latinos. Assault and vandalism were the most reported crimes. Hate crimes based on sexual orientation most often led to Latino suspects, while whites were most often suspected in religion-based crimes.
In California, a hate crime is defined as “bias, hatred or prejudice based on the victim’s real or perceived race/ethnicity, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, gender or sexual orientation,” according to the commission’s report. Hate crimes increased despite a 6% drop in overall crime in Los Angeles County.
Hate crimes are illegal in California. Even when a crime is not committed, the treat of violence can be a crime. Criminal threat is the threat to hurt, injure or kill with the intent of intimidating or frightening another person. The law protects people not only from hate crimes but from criminal threat.
Sometimes, however, the circumstances surrounding a hate crime or criminal threat incident are murky. Disagreements between people can get out of hand. Hot tempers can lead to angry words and sometimes escalate to physical violence against a person or property. It can be difficult to determine who started things and who is at fault. And some unfortunate people are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. If you are charged with a hate crime or criminal threat, seek immediate counsel from an experienced criminal defense attorney.
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-LegalPro
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