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By Crescenzo Vellucci
Vanguard Sacramento Bureau Chief
OAKLAND, CA – Hate crimes in California decreased in 2023 compared to 2022 but reported hate crimes against LGBTQ+, Muslim and Jewish communities increased, according to the California Attorney General’s Dept of Justice (DOJ) annual 2023 Hate Crime in California Report.
Released Friday, the AG report noted a 7.1 percent decrease overall – 2,120 hate crimes in 2022 but just 1,970 in 2023 – in hate crimes in 2023, but charged “too many continue to be unacceptably targeted by hate.”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said, “While it is heartening to see an overall decrease in hate crimes in 2023, some of our communities, including our LGBTQ+, Jewish and Muslim communities, continue to be targeted and endangered by hate at alarming rates. An attack against one of us is an attack against all of us — there is no place for hate in California,”
Bonta added, “Everyone has a part to play as we continue to fight prejudice and create safer communities in California. The California Department of Justice has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to hate, and will continue working with law enforcement, elected leaders, and community organizations across the state to keep our communities safe through education, prevention, and enforcement.”
The CA DOJ data on hate crimes identified a hate crime as a “criminal act committed in whole or in part because of a victim’s actual or perceived disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or association with someone with one or more of these characteristics.”
The DOJ noted, “Examples of hate incidents include name-calling, insults, and distributing hate material in public places. If a hate incident starts to threaten a person or property, it may become a hate crime.”
The DOJ added that “hate crime data has generally been underreported and the California Department of Justice recognizes that the data presented in its reports may not adequately reflect the actual number of hate crime events that have occurred in the state (because) not all agencies were able to submit a full year of data for 2023.”
The DOJ said not only did hate crime “events” decrease 7.1 percent from 2022 to 2023, hate crime “offenses” decreased 8.9 percent from 2,589 in 2022 to 2,359 in 2023
The report notes that hate crimes involving “racial bias” decreased 21.6 percent in the one-year period but, “Anti-Black bias events remained the most prevalent, despite a 20.6 percent decrease from 652 in 2022 to 518 in 2023.”
The report reflected anti-Asian bias events decreased 10.71 percent from 140 in 2022 to 125 in 2023, anti-Jewish bias events rose from 189 in 2022 to 289 in 2023, an increase of 52.9 percent. Anti-Islamic (Muslim) bias events rose from 25 in 2022 to 40 in 2023, almost doubling.
The DOJ findings show religion bias increased 30 percent from 303 in 2022 to 394 in 2023, hate crime events “motivated by sexual orientation bias increased by 4.1 percent from 391 in 2022 to 405 in 2023, anti-transgender bias events increased by 10.2 percent from 59 in 2022 to 65 in 2023, and anti-LGBTQ+ bias events increased by 86.4 percent% from 2022.”
Although the hate crimes decreased, the DOJ said prosecutions were up, from 647 in 2022 to 679 in 2023, most by county district attorneys.
AG Bonta noted he appointed a hate crimes coordinator in June 2022 to “further assist state and local law enforcement efforts to combat hate crimes.”
