HATE CRIMES DROP BUT GET MORE VICIOUS ATTACKS BY GIRLS AS VIOLENT AS BOYS.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

Hate crimes in Los Angeles County dropped to a 12-year low in 2003 although the incidents become more violent - especially those perpetrated by adolescent girls, figures released Thursday show.

The 692 hate crimes reported last year were 14 percent fewer than the 803 reported in 2002 and the lowest number since 1991, according to the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission.

And while fewer hate crimes were reported, 52 percent were considered violent - including one homicide - compared with 49 percent in 2002. Among adolescent boys and girls, 81 percent of the hate crimes were violent.

``One of the things that alarmed us anecdotally as we were going through the individual cases was the savage level of violence employed by young women, some even junior high school age,'' said Marshall Wong, senior intergroup relations specialist with the commission.

``When we looked at them as a group, we found they had the same numbers as far as the level of violence committed by juvenile males.''

Most of these incidents occurred between African-American and Latino girls at or near their schools.

Officials said a spate of violent hate crimes has been occurring since last year at numerous high schools throughout the county, including recent white-supremacist incidents at Valencia and other high schools in the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys.

Fights between large numbers of African-Americans and Latino students at schools was the most frequently reported racial conflict reported to the commission.

``Everything was relatively calm until the last month when we had about five high school campuses erupt in campuswide conflicts,'' said Terri Villa-Dowell, the commission's assistant executive director. ``It's very serious at Valencia. There, African-American students are being targeted for harassment and beatings, largely by white students.''

And last year in Lancaster, while walking home from school, a 12- year-old Latina had to be hospitalized after an attack by two African- American girls, ages 13 and 14.

Officials also reported that hate crimes dropped 10 percent statewide, but ticked up 1 percent nationwide.

Locally, more than two-thirds of the hate crimes - 538 - occurred in Los Angeles or parts of the county patrolled by the Sheriff's Department, including Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Lancaster, Palmdale, Santa Clarita, Westlake Village and Malibu.

Religious hate crimes dropped 13 percent, from 119 in 2002 to 104 last year. Anti-Semitic hate crimes, which are consistently the largest group of religious hate crimes, increased from 78 to 79 and constituted 84 percent of religion-based cases, up from 67 percent in 2002.

Hate crimes based on sexual orientation were violent in 67 percent of the cases, a rate higher than racial hate crimes - 55 percent - and religious crimes - 11 percent. However, all eight of the anti-transgender hate crimes reported were of a violent nature.

Younger hate crime suspects committed violent acts more frequently than those age 25 and older.

While the rate of violent hate crimes overall is 56 percent, the rate was 83 percent for juveniles and 87 percent for known suspects ages 18 to 25.

Crimes committed by young females showed an even sharper disparity. A total of 81 percent of juvenile female suspects' hate crimes were violent, on par with their male counterparts. For female suspects ages 18 to 25, the rate was 88 percent.

``The reduction in hate-crime reports overall is encouraging news,'' said commission Executive Director Robin S. Toma. ``However, we are concerned about the dramatic number of assaults with deadly weapons, and the continued targeting of African-Americans, who continued to be victimized at a rate five times their presence in the general county population, much higher than any other group.''

On the other hand, anti-Muslim crimes dropped, despite continued fears of terrorism, the Iraq war, unrest in the Middle East and complaints of widespread discrimination, Toma said.

Anti-Muslim crimes that were determined to be unrelated to Sept. 11 or the ongoing conflict in the Middle East dropped from 11 to six. Hate crimes prompted by backlash to the terrorist attacks dropped 47 percent, from 17 to nine.

Bosnian Muslim Edina Lekovic said that on March 25, 2003, she was pursued on Pacific Coast Highway by a white man driving a sport utility vehicle. He honked his horn, made obscene gestures, cut her off twice and shouted obscenities.

``I learned that it doesn't take an assault to create fear, or create a feeling of unsafety,'' said Lekovic, a Santa Monica resident.

``Even in a city as multicultural and diverse as Los Angeles, these things happen and there are people in our community who are living with a feeling of unsafety.''

Troy Anderson, [phone]

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

photo, chart

Photo:

(color) Bosnian Muslim Edina Lekovic said she was pursued on Pacific Coast Highway by a white man who made obscene gestures, cut her off twice and shouted obscenities.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer

Chart:

HATE CRIMES

SOURCE: 2003 Hate Crime Report

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