Hate Crimes in California Drop 20%

Hate crimes in California fell by more than 20 percent last year, according to a new report released by California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr.’s office.

“Hate Crime in California 2009″ showed that hate crime events dropped 21.3 percent from 1,397 in 2008 to 1,100 last year, the second consecutive year of decline. Overall, hate crimes have declined by half since they peaked in 2001, dropping from 2,261 to 1,100.

Contributing to last year’s downward trend in hate crimes was a decline in anti-black crime (-17.7 percent), anti-Jewish crime (-13 percent) and anti-gay crime (-22.1 percent). Together, those categories account for approximately 60 percent of all hate crime events in the state. While violent offenses accounted for 63.5 percent of all hate crimes in 2009, last year marked the largest year-over-year decline in violent hate crimes (-22.8 percent) this decade, according to the report.

In total, 479 hate crime cases were referred to prosecutors in 2009. Of those, 363 criminal cases were filed, 283 as hate crimes. Of the 257 hate crime cases with dispositions in 2009, there were 223 convictions (131 hate crime convictions and 92 other convictions).

The Attorney General’s office published its first hate crimes report in 1995, and the report is produced annually for the Legislature. The report was compiled using data submitted to the California Department of Justice by police, sheriffs’ departments and prosecutors in California’s 58 counties. The reports can be found at: http://ag.ca.gov/cjsc/publications/hatecrimes/pub.php.

The report follows news last month that the state’s violent crime rate dropped for a third straight year in 2009. There were across-the-board declines in every category of offense measured, from homicide (-8.9 percent) and robbery (-8.6 percent), to motor vehicle theft (-15.8 percent) and arson (-14.3 percent).

Source: AG

Latest Comments

• July 26, 2010 at 6:48 am

  George Orwell says:

  Is anyone else concerned that by making "Hate" a crime in and of itself, we are criminalizing thought??? Motive is a valid consideration in sentencing, but how far do you wan... read more
• July 26, 2010 at 12:32 pm

  Little Frog says:

  Suddenly, no one else has anything to say!
• July 26, 2010 at 8:57 am

  Tom says:

  All animanls are equal, except some animals are more equal than others. Is there a hate crime against hating hate crimes, if not, I am sure there soon will be. Since when di... read more