Hate crimes against Asian Americans and other members of the Asian and Pacific Island communities in Los Angeles increased sharply in 2020, reflecting a national trend and causing concern among police and local defense organizations.
According to a report submitted to the Los Angeles Police Commission on Tuesday, there were 15 anti-Asian hate crimes recorded in the city in 2020, compared to seven in 2019, marking an increase of 114%.
There were also nine hateful “incidents” – or prejudiced encounters that do not reach the level of crime – compared to seven in 2019, police said. Several anti-Asian hate crimes have occurred so far this year.
Both the police and the defenders said they believed that there were far more incidents than reported, and that they were working to better identify, track and record these encounters and take more action in local Asian communities to encourage victims to report.
They say the recent hatred was fueled in part by misguided notions of guilt over the COVID-19 pandemic, in which the first cases arose in China. They said that this hatred is sometimes fueled by national political figures, such as former President Trump, and that it is up to local leaders to react.
“Unfortunately, we have been in this pandemic for a year and we are starting to see an increase in anti-Asian hatred and some very violent attacks that have occurred in our community in the past one or two months,” said Connie Chung Joe, CEO of the Asian group Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles.
She cited, among other incidents, a North American Korean military veteran who was recently attacked in Koreatown. She also said that she talked to a woman who was harassed in a bar, but that the police said they could do nothing but offer to accompany her to the car.
She warned that many incidents are not reported, in part because of language barriers in immigrant communities, and asked the LAPD to increase police training to learn “how to identify when a crime reaches the level of hate crime and report it. accordingly so that the public receives a full report on the seriousness of the problem. “
“When the victims are brave enough to come forward and share their experiences with the police, the fact that the police say that nothing can be done discourages the victims and their communities from depending on the police again,” she said. “This contributes to the problem of underreporting.”
Michael Lawson, president of the Los Angeles Urban League, said that victims are also discouraged from reporting such crimes when they perceive or see prejudices advocated by law enforcement officials.
Manjusha Kulkarni, executive director of the Asia Pacific Policy and Planning Council and co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, said her group tracked thousands of crimes and other incidents targeted at members of Asian and Pacific Island communities across the country, and what is happening in Los Angeles seems to mirror the broader trend.
San Francisco police said on Tuesday that, based on preliminary data on hate crimes for 2020, hate crimes against Asian Americans increased from six in 2019 to nine in 2020. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department did not respond. to a hate crime data request for 2020 on Tuesday, but Alison Edwards, chief executive of the nonprofit OC Human Relations, said preliminary data indicates a tenfold increase in hate incidents against Americans of Asian origin.
Brian Levin, executive director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino, said that increases in these incidents have occurred across the state.
Police and other service providers, including those whose job is to ensure that civil rights are not violated, must step in to turn the tide, Kulkarni said.
LAPD Asst. Chief Beatrice Girmala said the department has increased training on hate incidents in recent years, including information from an LGBTQ working group, and takes hate crimes seriously.
Girmala said the department will host a forum to discuss specific issues in Asian communities and the Pacific islands soon, and asked community leaders to work with her to ensure that victims who contact the police have access to additional resources such as counseling.
“We do not defend or tolerate any acts of violence, any behavior that seeks to promote or give a so-called refuge to those who promote hatred,” said Girmala.
Within the department, Girmala said that Chief Michel Moore has made it clear that officials who display their own prejudices will be dealt with severely.
“Its highest priority is zero tolerance for any type of prejudice-driven behavior, which can even look like it is driven by prejudice in any way, shape or form,” said Girmala.
In addition to anti-Asian crimes, hate crimes against other groups have also increased in the past year. Anti-Hispanic hate crimes increased by almost 36%, to 57 incidents in 2020, and anti-black hate crimes increased by more than 5%, to 77, the LAPD report found.
Hate crimes against gays increased by almost 30%, to 70 crimes in 2020, and hate crimes against transgender people increased by about 26%, to 29 incidents last year. Hate crimes against the Jewish community have decreased.
Police Commissioners said they stand against hate and will continue to monitor the data and do what they can to ensure that the police are trained to identify such incidents when they occur and respond appropriately.
“It will not be tolerated,” said Commissioner William Briggs, of the hate-fueled crime in Los Angeles. “We need to take positive steps as a community and as a police force to help stem this wave of hatred.”
Los Angeles Times reporter Hannah Fry contributed to this article.