Hate crimes targeting Asians and other communities in Los Angeles saw an alarming surge in 2022, according to a report released by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).
Rise of hate: The LAPD’s analysis, presented to the city’s Police Commission on Tuesday, revealed that a total of 701 hate crimes and hate incidents across different groups were reported in 2022, registering a 15% increase from the previous year of 610.
Among these, anti-Hispanic hate crimes decreased from the previous year by 12% with 90 reported cases, while anti-Black hate crimes saw a 36% increase, reaching 180 incidents.
Worse for Asians during pandemic: The report covered hate crime data from 2017 to 2022, revealing a concerning 166% overall rise in hate crimes within the city during that period. It highlighted a disturbing 371% increase in anti-Asian hate crimes with 33 cases in 2022 compared to the pre-pandemic levels of reported cases in 2019.
The report partially attributed the increase in hate crime reporting to the department’s expanded outreach efforts, which involved encouraging vulnerable communities to report such incidents. It did not offer any evidence to suggest organized “hate groups” had been entering the city and coordinating attacks against the residents.
Attacks on religion, gender, sexual orientation: Last year also saw increased hate attacks against religious and sexual orientation communities.
The Jewish community reported 89 anti-semitic hate crimes in 2022, representing a 24% increase from the previous year. The most common religion-biased crimes included vandalism, criminal threats and harassment.
Hate crimes targeting the transgender community saw a 53% increase, with 29 reported incidents in 2022. Meanwhile, hate attacks against gay men saw a 9% decrease compared to 2021 with 93 anti-gay hate crimes reported in 2022. These gender-biased crimes often involved verbal or physical altercations.
Proposed solution: Detective Orlando Martinez, the department’s hate crime coordinator, noted how victims currently report hate crimes by directly filing a police report or calling 911 and waiting for officers to assist them.
According to the department, they are now working on developing an online reporting system specifically for hate crimes to facilitate better reporting.
