Hate Crimes Against Gays, Latinos Up in L.A. County : Violence: But the number of incidents involving all groups was slightly lower than in 1993, says a report compiled from police and watchdog agencies.

Violence targeting gay men, lesbians and Latinos increased sharply last year despite a slight drop overall in hate crimes throughout Los Angeles County, according to a county report released Wednesday.

Compiling incidents from various police departments and private watchdog groups, the county Commission on Human Relations documented 776 hate crimes in 1994--seven fewer than in 1993. It was the first time since the commission began reporting hate crimes 15 years ago that there was a decrease in the number of such crimes.

“We’re hopeful that it is a positive sign,” said the commission’s executive director, Ron Wakabayashi, at a news conference after the report’s release. He added that although the total figure has dropped, it is clear the largest problem surveyors face is the underreporting of hate crimes.

Even with the general decline in attacks, however, violence against gay men and lesbians rose 32.4% in 1994, which Wakabayashi attributed to “growing homophobia.” He cited similar increases in hate crimes against gay men and lesbians in Orange County.

Meanwhile, hate crimes against Latinos increased 23.5%, from 68 to 84 incidents. Commission officials attributed the rise to the anti-immigrant sentiment that led to Proposition 187, as well as more vigilant reporting by advocacy groups.

Physical assaults motivated by sexual orientation increased from 241 incidents in 1993 to 319 last year, with the large majority of victims being gay men. Lesbians were also increasingly targeted in 1994: The report tallied 54 incidents, an 80% increase from 1993.

Threats against gay men and lesbians also increased, by 60.9%, according to the county.

As the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center acknowledged in its own recent report--which reported a 53% rise last year in anti-gay incidents--the county commission linked the rise in crimes to more active reporting by advocacy groups.

This year, 39 law enforcement and community groups participated in compiling the report; only nine such groups were involved in 1993, Wakabayashi said.

The commission’s report noted that there was a noticeable decrease in the number of incidents reported by the county’s two largest law enforcement agencies.

The Los Angeles Police Department reported 24% fewer hate crimes, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department 54% fewer hate crimes last year compared to the number documented in 1993, according to the commission.

At the news conference, commission officials attributed the decline in police reports of hate crimes to a general decrease in violent crime throughout the city of Los Angeles, and the implementation of community policing, which focuses on crime prevention.

Although the number of violent crimes reported by the LAPD has decreased, the number of hate crimes involving physical attacks remained steady at 40%, according to the commission report.

Hate crimes involving attempted murder showed an increase from four incidents in 1993 to 10 in 1994.

The report also notes that in 90.9% of the hate crimes reported, the perpetrators were young men, a trend that officials said points to a need for more, and earlier, diversity training in schools

Hate crimes based on religion dropped 30.3%, from 119 to 83 incidents, the report said. And the first hate crime against a disabled person was reported in 1994.

Officials said many hate crimes are not reported because victims, particularly immigrants, fear a backlash.

“(They) may have a fear . . . of coming forth to law enforcement,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Carla Arranaga, who has investigated many hate crime incidents.

The hate crime report comes a day after Supervisor Michael Antonovich proposed that the commission conduct a study into recent skinhead attacks on African Americans in the Antelope Valley.

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The Targets In 1993, for the first time, gay men became the most frequent targets of hate crimes in Los Angeles County. This trend continued in 1994, with a 25.6% increase over the previous year. Crimes against Latinos and lesbians also increased over 1993. *

Number of victims by group: 1994 Gay men: 265 African Americans: 159 Whites: 86 Jews: 85 Latinos: 84 Lesbians: 54 Asians: 29 Other: 13 *

1993 Gay men: 211 African Americans: 179 Whites: 112 Jews: 114 Latinos: 68 Lesbians: 30 Asians: 44 Other: 25 Source: Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations