Hate crimes up in L.A., report finds

Hate crimes in the city of Los Angeles are on pace to surpass last year’s recordsetting levels, according to a USC analysis.

Hate crimes against Black, transgender and LGBTQ Angelenos in the first half of the year were up significantly compared with the first six months of 2021, according to an analysis of Los Angeles Police Department data by Crosstown, USC’s nonprofit data-driven news outlet.

Hate crimes across the country and in California have been on the rise in recent years, led in 2021 by an increase in incidents targeting Asian people.

The analysis of the first half of 2022 signals that records could again be set this year in L.A.

There were 596 hate crimes reported by the LAPD in 2021, according to USC’s analysis. This year, by the end of June, 349 had been reported, compared with 299 in the first half of 2021.

The LAPD defines a hate crime as a criminal act targeting gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion or disability.

Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, cautioned against analyzing the raw data released by Los Angeles police — as USC did — calling it “unfiltered,” meaning it can include duplicate counts in cases with multiple victims or other issues that might affect the final figures.

Levin wrote a recent report using data reviewed by the LAPD’s Hate Crimes Unit that found that the number of incidents so far this year is on par with last year.

“If you’re flat [compared with] the highest year in 20 years, you’re still bad,” he said. “Any way you slice it, there’s a lot of meanness in the pie.”

Levin’s report counted 302 hate crimes during the first half of 2022, compared with about 300 in the same period last year.

Levin said he would expect an increase during the second half of 2022, given that elections have historically fueled divisive rhetoric, and there are nearly always more hate crimes later in the year.

“Whether it’s flat or whether it’s gone up … oftentimes, the data is really made in the second half,” he said. “If we break even with last year, it’s terrible.”

Crimes against transgender and LGBTQ people were significantly up in the first half, with 30 reported, compared with eight in the first half of last year, per USC’s analysis. Anti-Black crimes saw a 15% increase, with more than 90 so far this year.

Anti-Asian crimes were down slightly, at 16, compared with 23 in the first half of 2021.

Nearly 45% of the 349 hate crimes reported in L.A. during the first half of 2022 involved an assault, according to the USC analysis, and about one-sixth were recorded as vandalism or crime threats that did not involve a weapon.