Crimes of Bias

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 were also increased over 1993.

Breakdown of crimes by geography, type of crime and victims:

In 1994, race and sexual orientation triggered the greatest number of crimes reported.

Racial: 362

Sexual Orientation: 319

Religious: 93

Valley Crimes

Of 776 hate crimes reported in the county last year, 160 were in Valley communities. North Hollywood had the most, followed by Van Nuys.

Valley: 20.6%

Rest of L.A. County: 79.45

Most Common Crimes

Type of crime and percentage of incidents reported in Los Angeles County in 1994.

1. Assault with deadly weapon: 27.4%

2. Assault/battery: 25.4%

3. Criminal threats: 15.55

4. Vandalism: 13.8%

5. Robbery: 5.0%

The Victims

The proportion of gay men, lesbians, and African Americans who were hate crime victims far exceeded the relative size of those populations.

Figures for L.A. County:

Gay men

1994: 265

1993: 211

African American

1994: 159

1993: 179

White

1994: 86

1993: 112

Jewish

1994: 85

1993: 114

Latino

1994: 84

1993: 68

Lesbian

1994: 54

1993: 30

Asian

1994: 29

1993: 44

Other

1994: 13

1993: 25

Source: Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations Please see B1 for more on hate crimes