CITY PANEL TARGETS HATE CRIMES; TASK FORCE CALLS FOR CHANGES AT LAPD TO TRACK VIOLENCE.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

Alarmed by the large number of hate crimes, a city task force recommended Friday that the LAPD adopt sweeping measures to improve enforcement against crimes targeting victims because of their race, gender, religion or sexual preference.

The Hate Crimes Task Force suggested that the department develop new training to help officers better identify and investigate hate crimes. It also said that the Los Angeles Police Department should create a computer system to track the crimes and identify trends requiring special attention, and that the City Council increase the reward for such crimes higher than the $500 now offered.

The city's Police Commission will take up the task force's report on Tuesday.

The task force, headed by Police Commissioner Dean Hansell, who is openly gay, called hate crimes ``particularly reprehensible'' and sounded a warning that Los Angeles County last year had the second-largest number of hate crimes of any county in the nation.

The trend for reported hate crimes has been generally upward since the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission began keeping statistics in 1980, when just 26 crimes were reported, according Maria Haro, commission spokeswoman.

The one exception was last year when 820 hate crimes were reported, down from 995 reported in 1996. But even the lower number was the second-highest since the commission began keeping the statistics, Haro said.

``Hate crimes involve a double wrong,'' the task force report said. ``The perpetrator not only commits a criminal act but also engages in a wrongful act of discrimination.''

Hate crimes also have negative implications for the city as a whole, especially one as diverse as Los Angeles, according to the task force. The panel has representatives from city, county and federal prosecutors, LAPD officers and civil rights organizations, including the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center.

``Law enforcement can do a better job of tracking and reporting hate crimes,'' Haro said. ``Many times officers do not recognize all of the elements that make it a hate crime.''

That ability to recognize a hate crime will be addressed by improved training recommended by the task force. Also, a new special order by Police Chief Bernard C. Parks requires the watch commander at each police station to be designated as responsible for making sure hate crimes are reported and investigated.

The task force also developed new field investigation guidelines to help officers recognize a hate crime.

In addition, the task force calls for all hate crimes to be reported to the U.S. Attorney's Office, something not done in the past.

``There are certain acts which under state law are misdemeanors, but under federal law are felonies,'' Hansell said. ``We want the maximum penalty for these crimes.''

The task force also recommended that hate crimes be tracked as part of the LAPD's computer-assisted crime analysis program to help identify trends that need special attention.

Finally, the task force agreed that it will continue meeting on a quarterly basis to hear concerns from the community groups and to develop education programs aimed especially at juveniles, who commit most hate crimes.