Friday, February 26, 2021
Date Published: February 26, 2021
Source: NBC Los Angeles
Original Article: https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/lapd-reports-doubling-of-anti-a...
New hate crime data from the Los Angeles Police Department shows the number of anti-Asian crime reports rose 114% in 2020, though the overall number of incidents remained relatively low.
An analysis from the Department’s Hate Crime Coordinator showed 15 anti-Asian incidents in 2020, compared with seven in 2019.
The Department’s oversight board, the Los Angeles Police Commission, was set to discuss the nationwide increase in reports of anti-Asian bias crimes at its meeting next week.
The data showed there was a 35.7% increase in the number of anti-Hispanic incidents and a 5.5% increase in the number of anti-Black incidents in 2020 compared with 2019, and a 40% decrease in the number of anti-Semitic hate incidents.
The LAPD said there was a near-30% increase in the number of anti-gay reports, and a 26% increase in the number of incidents that targeted people who identified as transgender.
The department also said the types of crimes had changed with more hate incidents categorized as violent crime.
The number of attacks may be even higher considering the number of unreported attacks. Connie Chung Joe of Asian Americans Advancing Justice -Los Angeles speaks with NBCLA Feb. 11, 2021.
In 2020 the data showed 93 of the overall number of incidents were aggravated assaults, meaning they produced a serious injury. That was a 72% increase over 2019. Assaults that produced less-severe injuries increased by 18%.
The LAPD’s newly published data does not include incidents in 2021. NBCLA examined this year’s crime data and found a single anti-Asian hate incident on Feb. 16, which occurred in West Los Angeles and was reported as a "vandalism."
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