Police downplay a rise in area hate crimes

Marisa O’Neil

The number of hate crimes in Newport Beach and Costa Mesa increased

slightly in 2003, while numbers dipped statewide, according to an FBI

report released Monday.

Costa Mesa reported a total of three hate crimes -- one racially

motivated, one ethnically motivated and one motivated by religion --

up from only one in 2002. Newport Beach reported seven -- four

racial, two ethnic and one involving religion -- up from four in

2002.

Though both cities showed increases, hate crimes still represent a

small portion of incidents, police said.

“The majority are property crimes,” Newport Beach Lt. John Klein

said.

“The worse ones are some altercations, but it’s hard to tell

whether the altercation is the result of the prejudice or the

prejudice is a result of the altercation.”

In three 2003 Newport Beach cases, people made derogatory comments

in connection with a physical altercation, Klein said. One was

racially motivated and another involved comments about religion.

A third verbal fight, which escalated into a brawl, was considered

ethnically motivated because it involved two groups of people from

the same country but different ethnic groups, Klein said.

Three others involved graffiti, and another was a verbal threat,

Klein said.

“These are all individual acts,” he said. “It doesn’t show a

pattern of increased hate crimes.”

Costa Mesa’s three incidents in 2003 all involved spray-painted

graffiti, Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Marty Carver said.

Costa Mesa Police reported 12 possible hate crimes to the Orange

County Human Relations Commission, which tracks such data, Carver

said. Of those, only the three met reporting criteria and were passed

along to the FBI.

Neither city reported any hate crimes connected to disabilities or

sexual orientation.

The FBI report released Monday is part of its Uniform Crime

Reporting program and has tracked hate crimes since 1995.

A total of 727 police agencies in California participated in the

program in 2003. Of those, 235 reported incidents, accounting for

1,472 statewide.

In 2002, 243 of 726 agencies reported 1,648 hate crimes.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (714) 966-4618 or at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.