Hate crimes in California have been on the rise for nearly a decade, with numbers spiking between 2020 and 2022 (the year of the latest data). These are crimes with reasonable evidence of motivation based on a victim’s race/ethnicity, gender, or other personal characteristics.
Recent increases have affected Black, Latino, and Asian Californians most—and violent hate crimes have driven much of this trend. The troubling numbers may not reflect the full scope of these crimes, which are widely assumed to be underreported. Amid these challenges, California is taking action–targeting money to improve reporting and support affected communities.
Before we look at the numbers, it is important to note that the most recent available data from California’s Department of Justice does not yet capture crime trends after 2022. This means that any effects of recent events—such as the Israel-Hamas war—won’t be captured here. Still, the data provides an important look at an urgent issue affecting communities across the state.
Overall long-term trends indicate a concerning pattern. Reported hate crimes in California fell markedly after 2001, the first year we can track. After hitting a low point in 2014, hate crimes rose fairly steadily until 2020. Between 2019 and 2022 these crimes more than doubled, from 1,015 to 2,120.
Violent hate crimes—which grew by 791 incidents—are behind most of this recent increase; property hate crimes increased by 314. The most common violent hate crimes in 2022 were assault (505), aggravated assault (418), and intimidation (464). The most common property hate crimes were destruction of property/vandalism (605), theft (16), and arson (12).
Some of the largest increases were in crimes targeting Black, Latino, and Asian Californians. From 2019 to 2022, hate crimes against Black Californians nearly tripled from 243 to 661; those against Latinos almost doubled from 110 to 210; and those against Asians more than tripled from 43…
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