Hate Crimes Rise Sharply, Panel Reports : Bigotry: Six-month increase is steep enough to warrant a special midyear statement by county Human Relations Commission, which sees situation worsening.

Residents of multiethnic Los Angeles County are finding it increasingly difficult to cope with one another’s racial and cultural differences, according to a special report released Thursday by the county Human Relations Commission that shows a marked increase in hate crimes in the first six months of 1990.

African-Americans, Latinos, Jews and Arab-Americans have had their homes vandalized and defaced with swastikas and racist graffiti, the commission reported.

In other examples cited, two Latinos struck an Asian with bottles and hurled racial epithets at him; a cross was set aflame in front of a black family’s Temple City home; a gay man who spoke on a radio program was threatened by two armed men who followed him home, and a Catholic church in Torrance was desecrated.

In its report to the county Board of Supervisors, the commission noted that the hate crimes, motivated by racism, religious bigotry and intolerance of homosexuality, have been steadily rising across the county since 1986. Last year, 378 hate crimes were reported across the county. For the first half of this year, the figure is 272.

The latest increase--which commission officials say marks an “alarming” 32% increase over the same period last year--was so dramatic that the commission believed it warranted a special midyear report, commission director Eugene Mornell said at a news briefing, noting that the commission usually issues the reports annually. Mornell predicted the situation “will get worse before it gets better.”

He attributed the increased intergroup tension to “population changes across the county” as well as to a rise in the general level of violent crime across the nation.

“In Los Angeles County, no one group is a majority of the population anymore. This is a new situation we are going to have to learn to live with. This will take time,” he said.

“We are going to see increased tension and hate crimes.”

Hate crimes have increasingly been directed at Asians and Latinos, though African-Americans, Jews and gays continue, by far, to be the prime targets, the report shows. Blacks are still victims in more than half of all racial crimes, Jews in nine of 10 religious hate crimes. But hate crimes against Asians more than tripled in the six months, to 23 from 7 for the same period last year.

The incidence of crimes against gays remained nearly unchanged over that same period, but the level of violence increased substantially, the commission reported. Of the 50 incidents reported against gays during the first six months of the year, physical violence was reported in 41 cases.

Young white males--described by Mornell as the “most fearful, hostile, bigoted” segment of society--have historically been the main perpetrators of hate crimes, he said. But, surprisingly, he added, more recent reports show that others have joined the ranks, showing that “bigotry is not isolated to any one group.”

Much of the rise in hate crimes can be attributed to rising tension resulting from the region’s rapidly changing demographics, he said. Immigrants or ethnic groups that are new to a neighborhood are often the targets of “move-in violence” from more established neighbors.

The problem of hate crime is by no means Los Angeles County’s alone, said Mornell, noting that hate crimes are on the rise across the nation. “We feel that we have a lower hate crime rate than some Eastern cities,” he said.

He noted that in a few areas of the county, principally the San Fernando Valley and Glendale, the hate-crime rate declined in the first six months of the year. Although he had no explanation for the decrease, he speculated that increased attention by Glendale police to this particular type of crime might help explain the improvement. He said Glendale investigators were able to arrest suspects in all but one such incident last year.

‘HATE CRIMES’ IN L.A. COUNTY Selected figures from a report by the county Human Relations Commission on racially motivatedcrimes -- so-called “hate crimes”--in Los Angeles County. RACIAL:

(Jan.-June) Victim 1989 1990 Black 51 80 Asian 7 23 Latino 11 14 Arab 5 6 American 0 3 Indian White 2 3 Armenian 6 2 Iranian 0 1 Multiple 2 0 Target

RELIGIOUS:

(Jan.-June) Victim 1989 1990 Jewish 68 81 Catholic 0 7 Baptist 0 1 Christian 0 1 Mormon 1 0 Muslim 1 0

FBI WON’T PROBE ATTACK: The FBI has reviewed an attack on an Orange County girl but will notinvestigate it.