Report: Hate Crimes On The Rise In California
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Across California, hate crimes are on the rise. According to a report from the California Department of Justice, hate crimes went up 11.2% from 2015 to 2016.
In 2016, 931 incidents were reported, compared to 837 in 2015. It's the second year in a row for double-digit increases, following nearly ten years of declines.
Hate crimes went down in several Sacramento area counties.
In Sacramento County, hate crimes dropped from 24 to 21. In San Joaquin County, they dropped from 13 to 8. In Nevada County, there were no reported hate crimes in 2016, compared to two reported in 2015. A similar situation in Calaveras County, where one hate crime was reported in 2015 and none in 2015.
But hate crimes went up significantly in other area counties, including Stanislaus that jumped from 11 in 2015 to 15 in 2016. El Dorado County went from zero hate crimes to one reported hate crime, as did Sutter County. Solano and Placer counties saw the biggest spikes in high crime, climbing from one to eight and five to eleven, respectively. Seven hate crimes in Placer County were fueled by race in 2016, compared to only 1 in 2015 - that's the largest jump in race-based hate crimes across the region.
African Americans were the predominant target of racially based hate crimes, while there were an equal number of religious-based hate crimes against Jewish and Muslim communities. Hate crimes are also on the rise nationwide.