CONVERSATION ON HATE CRIMES COMING TO LA MESA

Several groups in La Mesa have organized a forum at which local leaders will discuss various issues related to hate crimes in East County.

San Diego Deputy District Attorney Leonard Trinh, head of the hate-crimes prosecution unit, will be the presenter at a Livable La Mesa event hosted by the city’s Community Relations and Veterans Commission on Wednesday.

The event is being held in partnership with the La Mesa Police Department, La Mesa Conversations and the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. Trinh will cover what is considered a hate crime in California, how hate crimes differ from hate incidents, and current trends in San Diego County.

Trinh said that according to the California Department of Justice, hate crimes in general increased from 1,015 in 2019 to 1,330 in 2020 in the state, a jump of 31 percent.

Trinh shared some statistics and increases in specific types of hate crimes in California from 2019 to 2020:

• Anti-black/african American hate crimes increased from 243 in 2019 to 456 in 2020, an 88 percent increase.

• Anti-hispanic hate crimes increased from 110 to 152, an increase of 38 percent.

• Anti-asian hate crimes increased from 43 to 89, an increase of 106 percent.

• And anti-transgender hate crimes increased from 29 to 54, an increase of 86 percent.

Trinh said locally, the District Attorney’s Office filed 30 hate crimes cases in 2019 — out of 66 that were submitted for review. That number dropped to 21 in 2020 — out of 52 that were submitted for review. Trinh said that the pandemic can explain some of the numbers.

“Our county saw a pretty dramatic slowdown in hate crimes in March 2020, when the shutdown started,” he said. “Hate crimes tend to occur on our roads, sidewalks, public parks, and places of business, and when people started staying at home, that limited their exposure to potential victimization.

“COVID-19 and the harmful language directed towards the (Asian/ Pacific Islander) community also explains the rise in anti-asian hate crimes. San Diego County didn’t have any anti-asian hate crime cases referred to us in 2017, 2018, or 2019, but we’ve had four since the start of the pandemic.”

He said that race-based hate crimes also tend to spike during presidential elections, and they did so this past election cycle as well.

“Around the November presidential election, we very nearly caught up to our 2019 pace of hate crime cases referred for review, despite the pandemic related slowdown,” Trinh said.

La Mesa Police Chief Ray Sweeney said there have been 14 documented hate crimes in the city since 2016. The department did not have breakdowns on the circumstances for the crimes. There have been four hate crimes reported in La Mesa so far this year, up from one in 2020. None was reported in La Mesa in 2019. Sweeney said there were six reported hate crimes in La Mesa in 2016, two in 2017 and one in 2018.

The meeting starts at 6 p.m., and will be held virtually on Facebook Live on the city of La Mesa’s official City Hall page, as well as in person at the La Mesa Adult Enrichment Center, 8450 La Mesa Blvd.

For more information on the event, to submit written questions or comments, or for help accessing the Adult Enrichment Center, email Meg Howell at mhowell@cityoflamesa.us or call (619) 667-1322 by noon on Monday.