Hate Crimes in 2000 Dropped to 10-Year Low

Hate crimes in Orange County plunged last year to the lowest level in more than a decade, according to a report released Thursday, with Jews being the most common target of such attacks.

The Orange County Human Relations Commission recorded 122 hate crimes in 2000, an 11% decline from the year before. Reports of serious hate crimes such as verbal and physical assaults were down significantly, but incidents of hate-related vandalism jumped from 38 in 1999 to 60 last year.

Officials credited the overall drop in part to the healthy economy--a factor also cited in the continuing reduction of murders, robberies and other crimes across Orange County.

“When people are looking for jobs, they go out to look for scapegoats to blame,” said Rusty Kennedy, executive director of the commission.

But Kennedy and others said the drop also shows that people are coming to better accept diversity as a part of life in Orange County. Most hate crimes occur on campus, prompting many educators to create multicultural programs in which parents, teachers and students discuss problems and seek solutions.

“There’s an awareness that we’re in a diverse county,” said Kenneth K. Inouye, chairman of the Human Relations Commission. “It’s made people speak up when there’s something wrong.”

One question the commission could not answer is why Jews were targeted most in 2000. Thirty-one hate crimes against Jews were reported last year, compared to 21 against African Americans, 17 against gays or lesbians and eight each against Latinos and Asian Americans.

Kennedy said most hate crimes have some relation to larger events in the community.

For example, African Americans were targeted most in 1992, the year of the Los Angeles riots and the not-guilty verdicts against police officers who beat Rodney G. King.

Asian Americans were the focus of hate incidents during the last recession, when some blamed the U.S. economic downturn on competition from Asian countries. The debate in 1993 over whether openly gay people could serve in the military prompted a rise in hate crimes against that group, Kennedy said.

The vast majority of hate crimes in 2000 went without any suspects being arrested.

The Orange County district attorney’s office prosecuted three hate-crime cases in 2000. Three other cases are under investigation.

Thursday’s report was compiled from information provided by law enforcement agencies, community organizations and the commission.

Officials stressed that the report only includes reported hate crimes and that many others might have occurred without an official report being filed.

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10-Year Low

Orange County’s reported hate crimes in 2000 decreased 11% from the previous year, making the lowest number of such indcidents in a decade. Jews were the most common target for the second time since 1991.