About the Data

Number of Victims

The values in this dataset represent the number of victims. Hate crime cases may include more than one victim.

Hate Crime Cases by Motivation

Crimes are considered hate crimes when there is evidence of bias, hatred, or prejudice based on a victim’s real or perceived Race/Ethnicity/National Origin, Religion, Sexual Orientation, Gender or Disability. Following the terrorist attacks in 2001, September 11th/ Middle East Conflict was introduced as a motivation. In this data set, this category has been incorporated into race/ethnicity/national origin. For some reports, usually minor vandalism, in which the information provided in a law enforcement agency’s report was too minimal to determine specific bias motivation and targeted group, the motivation and targeted group are deemed Unknown.

Hate Crime Cases by Year

The data provided is from 2003 – 2022.

Hate Crime Cases by Targeted Group

 A Targeted Group is based on the category that a hate crime was reportedly directed against and is not based on the characteristics of the victim(s) involved. The set of possible targeted groups differs for each motivation type. For example, if a victim of a hate crime is a white, Jewish, gay male who was targeted based on his perceived religion, the reported targeted group would be Jewish, and his case would not be counted under Gay(male) or White.

Below is a list of all reported targeted groups. Groups that were renamed or grouped together are noted below.

Hate Crime Cases by Offense Types

Below is the complete list of offense types.

Hate Crime Cases by Victim Gender

When reported, the following categories are used to capture the victim’s gender. If gender was not reported, the case is counted under No Data

• Female
• Male
• No Data (Unknown or Blank)
• Non-binary
• TransFemale/Transwoman
• Transmale/Transman

Hate Crime Cases by Location

The location of the hate crime is recorded in the report. The following is a list of all locations.

Victim Race Index

A Victim Race Index was calculated to show the rate of victimization for reported hate crimes motivated by bias against a person due to their perceived race, ethnicity or national origin. An index was calculated for each racial group using hate crime data gathered by the LACCHR and population data from US Census Bureau, IPUMS, using 3-year averages (decennial; mid-decennial using 3-year prior average). The index represents the number of hate crime victims divided by that group’s estimated population in Los Angeles County for each year and aggregated across all years. 

• Latino/a
• White (includes Middle Eastern)
• Black
• Asia/Pacific Islander
• American Indian and Alaska Native
• Other (includes More than One Race and Other)

Sub Motivations

Sub Motivations are added to the data by LACCHR.

Gang: Hate crimes are considered associated with gang violence when the suspect(s) mention their affiliation during the commission of the crime or include the name of a gang in graffiti.

White Supremacist: These are hate crimes where there is evidence of white supremacist ideology, which is most often the usage of swastikas and other hateful symbols and slogans used in graffiti. Occasionally, suspects will shout “White Power” or other slogans while committing the crime.

Middle East Conflict: Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, LACCHR has tracked hate crimes in which suspects called their victims “terrorists” or in some other way blamed them for ongoing conflicts in the Middle East

Immigrant Bashing: Hate crimes in which the suspect(s) used specifically anti-immigrant language are considered under the LACCHR category of immigrant bashing. This might include slurs or phrases such as, “Wetback!” or “You don’t belong here”. It is important to note that other racial crimes may also be motivated by anti-immigrant sentiments but the suspect(s) did not use specifically anti-immigrant language.

 Limitations of the Data

The data presented here represents hate crime reports collected between 2003 – 2022 in Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations receives data from law enforcement agencies, school districts, colleges and universities, and several community-based organizations within the County. We note the following qualifications and limitations:

• These numbers may be different from summary reports by a reporting law enforcement agency in a given jurisdiction because these data are based on original police reports and not based on completed investigations or filed charges.
• As with other types of crime incidents, there may be underreporting by certain groups, such as immigrant and undocumented individuals, who are disproportionately Latinx and Asian and Pacific Islander. 

Citing the Data

If referencing this website, please use the following citation:

Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations, 2003-2022, Hate Crime Data: Los Angeles County, http://uclaresearch.com/data/data-visualization