VIOLENT BIGOTRY ON RISE IN AREA HATE CRIMES SOAR 26%, PANEL FINDS.

Byline: TROY ANDERSON Staff Writer

Hate crimes in northern Los Angeles County surged nearly 45 percent last year, fueled by anti-immigrant sentiment, white supremacist activity and racial tension in schools, jails and neighborhoods, officials said Thursday.

Bucking national and statewide trends -- and reversing three years of declines -- the number of hate crimes countywide hit 633, with about half involving violence, according to the report by the county's Human Relations Commission.

North county communities -- including Lancaster, Palmdale and Santa Clarita -- reported 75 crimes, up from 52 in 2004, statistics show.

Much of the countywide increase was driven by hate crimes against blacks, which rose 47 percent -- from 156 to 230 -- while anti-Latino incidents surged 179 percent -- from 19 to 53. Specifically anti-Mexican crimes rose 71 percent, from 41 to 70.

In contrast, the number of hate crimes statewide dropped 6 percent last year and the number nationwide dropped 8 percent.

``We see additional evidence of the tension between the (Latino and black) communities in the widespread occurrence of brawls in the county jails, juvenile detention facilities and public schools,'' said Robin Toma, executive director of the county's Human Relations Commission.

The data showed that gang members were responsible for five of the six hate-motivated attempted murders last year. Nearly 80 percent of the racially motivated crimes involved mostly Latino gangs targeting blacks without provocation, authors of the report said.

In addition to racial violence spilling out of the jails and juvenile halls onto the streets, the report found a disturbing escalation in racial hate crimes on or near school campuses.

Racial crimes at schools more than tripled, from 18 to 64. Most involved conflicts between blacks and Latinos, primarily in South Los Angeles, but some also took place at Sylmar and North Hollywood high schools.

``I'm not happy to see there is an increase in ethnic hate crimes involving African-Americans and Latinos,'' county Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke said. ``The only way we are going to stop this is to get to the core of some of the feelings behind this.''

The Rev. Eric P. Lee, executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Los Angeles, said the violence and hatred are rooted in low employment and poor educational opportunities.

``Working-class people have to struggle to survive, and in that struggle, we lose sight of the fact that our enemy is not those who live next to us, but institutional injustices,'' Lee said.

``We have to attack hatred by loving one another. We call upon people of faith to walk in love toward their sisters and brothers. We have to deal with hatred as a spiritual wickedness that we must defeat.''

The report's authors also reported a rise in hate-related violence spurred by the heated public debate over illegal immigration. The number of anti-immigrant slurs muttered during a hate crime rose from 17 in 2004 to 40 last year.

``We have to have a civil debate on the immigration issue,'' said Alvaro Huerta, spokesman for the Coalition for Humane Immigration Rights of Los Angeles. ``It's going to be a big issue next year.''

The report also found an increase in white supremacist crimes, with 95 incidents reported last year.

``While many experts believe that less than 5 percent of the national hate crimes involve white supremacists, there is evidence that white supremacist ideology is at the crux of 17 percent of the hate crimes committed in Los Angeles County,'' Commission President Adrian Dove said.

Amanda Susskind, director of the Pacific Southwest Region of the Anti-Defamation League, said anti-Semitic incidents have continued a three-year upward trend in California, up to 247 last year.

In the county, religious hate crimes rose from 81 in 2004 to 101 last year, a 25 percent increase. And anti-Semitic hate crimes comprised 81 percent of religious-based crimes, up from 78 percent the previous year.

Susskind said she is disturbed by a concerted campaign by white supremacists to use the Internet to spread their beliefs, especially targeting school-age children.

``There is a whole effort to reach kids through the white power music industry,'' Susskind said. ``There are some really evil forces in our community that are reaching kids and getting into the playgrounds and schoolyards.''

Of the total hate crime reports, 333 occurred in Los Angeles, an increase from 249 in 2004, according to the commission report.

But Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Paul Vernon said LAPD figures showed a 10 percent drop in hate crimes from 293 in 2004 to 264 last year. And Vernon said the department expects an 8 percent further drop this year.

``They had a few more reported to them that didn't get reported to us somehow,'' Vernon said commissioners. ``Depending on how you organize the numbers, it can appear to be an increase or a decrease. We are reporting consistently what is reported to us, and we show it as a 10 percent decrease.''

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CAPTION(S):

box, chart

Box:

Hate Crime Categories

Chart:

Total Hate Crimes

Source: Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations

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