HATE CRIMES UP SLIGHTLY IN SANTA CLARITA VALLEY.Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Daily News Staff WriterLike other areas throughout the county, hate crimes increased in 1996 in the Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley is the valley of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. It stretches through Los Angeles County and Ventura County. Its main population center is the city of Santa Clarita. The valley was part of the 48,612-acre (19,672. , enough to serve as a wake-up call, but not to the point of drawing conclusions about increased racism, officials said. Last year, five hate crimes were reported to law enforcement officials - an increase of two from the previous year, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County Commission on Human Relations human relations npl → relaciones fpl humanas , which released its annual county crime report figures Thursday. All five of the hate crimes involved racism rather than religion, disabilities or sexual orientation sexual orientation n. The direction of one's sexual interest toward members of the same, opposite, or both sexes, especially a direction seen to be dictated by physiologic rather than sociologic forces. , said Mary Louise Longoria, a senior staff consultant on the commission. Lt. Tim Peters Tim Peters may refer to:
Canyon Country and Saugus each had two hate crimes, and one was reported in Newhall, Longoria said. In 1995, three hate crimes were reported - one each in Canyon Country, Saugus and Newhall, the report said. Two of those crimes involved racism, one religion. Comparatively, neighboring Antelope Valley had 40 incidents last year of hate crimes, 34 of which were race-related. This marks a dramatic increase from its eight incidents in 1995. Overall, Los Angeles County showed a more than 25 percent increase over the previous year, with 995 hate crimes reported, the 17th annual report showed. This has prompted the commission to call for a countywide summit to reverse the trend. Though Longoria acknowledged that Santa Clarita's figures are low, she said the increase offers warning signs. ``It signals that something could escalate,'' she said. ``It does serve as a wake-up call. There's some element of disease. Let's get it right now before it goes out of control.'' Peters attributes this area's low numbers to the high level of education in local schools and vocal residents who resist racial problems. ``I think we have a community that is concerned about this activity,'' Peters said. He said most of the hate crimes are initiated by youths. In 1994, problems with skinheads Noun 1. skinheads - a youth subculture that appeared first in England in the late 1960s as a working-class reaction to the hippies; hair was cropped close to the scalp; wore work-shirts and short jeans (supported by suspenders) and heavy red boots; involved in attacks emerged, but neighborhood pressure stymied the activity, he said. About 1-1/2 years ago, discriminating words were written on pieces of paper and slipped into six packs of drinks at grocery stores, Peters said. And in Newhall, somebody changed an elementary school's marquee so that it spelled out racial epithets, authorities said. But the incidents are few, Peters said. ``People don't want it out here,'' he said. ``A lot of work is done within our high schools to deal with it so that they don't fester fester /fes·ter/ (fes´ter) to suppurate superficially. fes·ter v. 1. To ulcerate. 2. To form pus; putrefy. n. An ulcer. into problems.'' |
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