Hate Crimes

On the tenth anniversary of the worst domestic terrorist attack in the United States’ history the Orange County Human Relations Commission offers condolences to the families and friends of  the victims who were wounded or died in those attacks, and to the first responders who gave their lives trying to save lives in the aftermath

This annual report on hate crime is an important indicator of inter- group relations in Orange County. There are many factors that can influence the number of these bias related crimes including turmoil in the world, uncertainty about the economy, changing demographics, community standards and fear.

The OC Human Relations Commission focuses its energy on assisting

Hate crime reporting was originally instituted to provide communities with an early warning sign of intergroup tensions.

Final Report of the Lieutenant Governor’s Commission on the Prevention of Hate Violence

At its most fundamental level, hate violence is an aggressive expression of hatred against another person or group of people simply because of who and what they are. But an act does not have to be criminal to be an act of hate;

California and federal laws have made major advances in addressing the persisitant prtoblem of hate crimes in the last twenty years, enacting legislation to track hate crimes at both the federal and state level, enhancing penalties when crimes are motivated by bias, and training local and federal law enforcement to detect and prevent hate crimes. Yet, these heartening advances against hate crimes have not included gender-based crimes Neither federal nor California statutes covering statistics on hate crimes include gender as one of the bases. And ,the California law providing penalty enhancements for hate crimes also does not include gender.