Reported incidents of hate crimes in Los Angeles County increased for the first time in four years, while such incidents in schools have more than doubled from last year, according to a report released Thursday....
The 26% spike in reported countywide hate crimes last year was fueled primarily by a nearly 50% jump in racially motivated offenses, especially toward immigrants and between African Americans and Latinos, according to an annual analysis by the county Commission on Human Relations....
Conflicts between blacks and Latinos erupted on the streets, in jails and at schools, with school-based hate crimes soaring by 111%. Many of these incidents on or near campus occurred in South Los Angeles, the report said.
The figure does not include 11 of 14 large student scuffles last year. The commission did not receive reports on those incidents because it was difficult to determine if they were racially motivated....
The rise in hate crimes reported across the county bucks state and national downward trends, the commission found. The city of Los Angeles also measured a roughly 10% dip in hate crimes, said Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Yet the number of reported hate crimes recorded last year — 633 — is still the second-lowest number since 1990. The 2004 tally was 502 incidents....
The commission's report highlighted simmering tensions between blacks and Latinos: the majority of suspects in anti-black crimes were Latino and vice versa, according to the organization's data. [Emphasis Added]
Meanwhile, the trial of the a group of black youths accused of a racially motivated assault against 3 young white women on Halloween is underway in Long Beach. See the LA Times for more.