Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : City Installs Hot Line to Report Racist Incidents : Bias: Human relations task force responds to white supremacist brawls and the appearance of hate literature.

SANTA CLARITA —  Beginning Monday, the city of Santa Clarita will offer a telephone line for residents to report incidents of racism and other forms of intolerance.

The hot line, which will record messages on an answering machine, was suggested by the Santa Clarita Valley Human Relations Task Force, a volunteer group formed by the city in June after a string of racially motivated incidents.

“If we can get people to report incidents, we can help solve the problem by referring them to the right agency,” said Gail Foy, the city’s public information officer.

There is no additional cost to the city for the hot line, which will use an existing telephone line and answering machine.

Supporters say the line will be used to refer victims to support groups and law enforcement agencies and inform local officials of where tensions are building.

“I think it’s a good idea by the city, setting up this hot line,” said Capt. Mike Quinn of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station. “A lot of times we don’t find out about something until it happens, and it would be good to know if that undertone is there.”

Mayor Jo Anne Darcy agreed. “It’s a way to put out the fire before it becomes a raging inferno, before (someone) starts the fistfight in the parking lot or the drive-by shooting,” she said.

The human relations task force, which meets monthly and has 14 members, has also proposed cultural events, essay contests and other activities to promote racial tolerance.

“If we can help one person resolve some tension, the task force has done its job,” Foy said.

City Council members launched the task force and provided its $25,000 budget after a series of incidents that included at least two brawls on Santa Clarita high school campuses between students and white supremacists.

Hate literature has also appeared in the area intermittently. It began with a few leaflets in grocery store products and peaked when more than 1,000 flyers were stuffed in student lockers at a local junior high school in March, 1994.

More than 200 students responded by signing a petition and creating a billboard-sized poster that denounced racism.

Although a few randomly painted swastikas have appeared in the Santa Clarita Valley, no other hate crimes have been reported since the leafleting, Quinn said.

Santa Clarita’s hot line will be activated only days after a report showing a slight decrease in countywide hate crimes from 1993 to 1994. There were 776 hate crimes reported in 1994, seven fewer than in 1993, according to the report by the Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations.

The phone number for the Santa Clarita hot line is (805) 255-4929.