Report Shows Anti-Latino Hate Crimes Down 31 Percent

A new report from the FBI shows a total of 7,713 hate crimes against victims were reported in 2011. Crimes against Latinos changed the most significantly, decreasing by 31 percent.

The most prevalent motivation for attacks was race, making up 47.4 percent of all single-bias hate crimes. The second-most common hate crimes were perpetrated against victims based on sexual orientation. Those totaled 20.4 percent of reported attacks.

Overall, the new data showed the number of hate crimes in the United States remained steady. Numbers for anti-LBGT crimes increased slightly, by 1.6 percent, while anti-Jewish crimes dropped by 13 percent.

California had the third highest number of hate crimes out of all the states in the United States. Pennsylvania ranked first with 1,372, and Texas ranked second with 1,027.

Among California cities, San Diego ranked second for reported hate crimes, behind Los Angeles. There are at least 13 known hate groups active in the San Diego area.

The number of hate crimes against Latinos is also down in California. In September 2012, KPBS reported:

This week, Kamala Harris, the California Attorney General, reported a slight decrease in hate crimes in 2011, down from 1,107 to 1,060. The largest number of hate crimes in 2011 were committed against African Americans, while hate crimes against Latinos decreased by 43 percent.

In the past, the FBI’s national hate crime statistics have been criticized.

In 2005, a government report published by the Bureau of Justice Statistics put the actual number of hate crimes at 15 percent more than what the FBI reported. That’s because, the report stated, only 44 percent of all hate crimes are reported to police.

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