Officials respond to hate crimes
Supervisors approve funding for LA v. Hate Network as attacks against Asian Americans steadily increase
Los Angeles County leaders approved funding Tuesday to bolster the region’s network that responds to hate crime, as a COVID-19-era surge in troubling offenses against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders has gripped the nation.
The five-member Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion by Supervisor Hilda Solis to expand the county Human Relations Commission’s LA v. Hate network and sustain the county’s 211 hotline that helps answer and track calls from victimized residents. To do that, the county needed at least $831,000 each year, Solis said. The motion was amended to direct the county to tap not just federal CARES Act money, but other local, state and federal sources.
The network includes partnering nonprofit agencies, which provide services to victims of hate, often via the 211 hotline or law enforcement.
“We find ourselves in a place where hate incidents continue to climb,” Solis said, adding that solidarity is not enough.
More county action was needed, she said. “Our budget is our values and the urgent need to expand this capacity is very clear,” she said. Her colleagues agreed.
“Any increase is concerning. Hate is something
we have to address,” Supervisor Kathryn Barger said.
Each 211 call triggers a partnering agency that can offer a number of responses, including counseling, advocacy, help with medical costs or aid defending civil rights.
The action will extend the network of local nonprofit organizations that respond to hate crimes
and other incidents aimed at the area’s diverse population.
Anti-Asian hate crimes in 16 of America’s largest cities increased 149% in 2020, according to an analysis of preliminary police data by the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at Cal State, San Bernardino.
The first spike occurred in March and April as the pandemic kicked in, the outbreak helping to trigger negative stereotyping of Asians, according to the report.