Hate crimes in California have been on the rise for the past decade, with a sharp increase from 2020 to 2022 (the most recent year for which data is available). A hate crime is a crime for which there is reasonable evidence of motivation based on the victim’s race/ethnicity, sex, or other personal characteristics.
The recent increase has most affected Black, Latino and Asian Californians, with violent hate crimes a major driver of this trend. The alarming numbers likely do not reflect the full extent of these crimes, which are widely believed to be underreported. Amid these challenges, California is taking action, focusing resources on improving reporting and supporting affected communities.
Before we look at the numbers, it’s important to note that the latest data from the California Department of Justice doesn’t yet capture crime trends beyond 2022, meaning the impact of recent events, such as the war between Israel and Hamas, won’t be reflected here. Still, the data provides an important look into pressing issues affecting communities across the state.
The overall long-term trends show a worrying pattern: Reported hate crimes in California have declined significantly since 2001, the first year that can be tracked. After reaching a low point in 2014, hate crimes increased fairly steadily through 2020. Between 2019 and 2022, these crimes more than doubled, from 1,015 to 2,120.
Violent hate crimes increased by 791, accounting for the majority of this recent increase. Hate crimes against property increased by 314. The most common violent hate crimes in 2022 were assault (505 cases), aggravated assault (418 cases), and intimidation (464 cases). The most common hate crimes against property were vandalism (605 cases), theft (16 cases), and arson (12 cases).
The most notable increases have been in crimes targeting Black, Latino, and Asian people in California. From 2019 to 2022, hate crimes against Black people in California nearly tripled, from 243 to 661. Hate crimes against Latino people nearly doubled, from 110 to 210, and hate crimes against Asian people more than tripled, from 43 to 143 (with anti-Asian hate crimes peaking at 248 in 2021). Note that while some of these crimes may be motivated by multiple types of bias, our data only considers one aspect of an individual’s identity.
These increases were driven overwhelmingly by violent crimes rather than property crimes: in 2022, violent hate crimes accounted for just over 75% of all hate crimes reported against these three groups.
Weapons were used in 25% of hate crimes against Black, Latino, and Asian people in 2022. The most common weapons used were knives (64), blunt objects such as clubs and clubs (57), and handguns (34).
These figures undoubtedly underestimate the problem: reporting is one issue, and victims may be more or less willing to report hate crimes in the first place; identification is another, and law enforcement in various jurisdictions may have limited ability to adequately identify the motives of crimes.
Both community-based and public efforts have emerged to address these issues. Organizations such as Stop AAPI Hate encourage members to report incidents in any way they feel safe. Law enforcement agencies have revised their policies and improved their ability to recognize hate crimes over the years, adding categories of bias motivations.
The California Legislature has also been working to combat hate crimes. AB 485, passed in 2022, requires local law enforcement agencies to post monthly updates on hate crimes on their official websites. AB 449, passed in 2023, requires all law enforcement agencies to adopt protocols for reporting suspected hate crimes and requires state law enforcement agencies to report information about hate crimes to the state Attorney General. Over the past year, Governor Newsom has launched a “CA vs Hate” awareness and education campaign, which includes setting up an online reporting hotline and providing funding to local organizations that support victims.
These efforts may have increased people’s willingness and ability to report hate crimes and hate-motivated incidents over the past few years. This potential change in reporting behavior, along with increased media attention to the issue, may have contributed to the recent increase in the number of incidents we report here.
As all these efforts progress and more information becomes available, we will continue to monitor current developments in this important area of criminal justice.
