United States / 02-09-2012

2011 Orange County Hate crime report

Hate Crime Up: Hate Crimes committed in Orange County rose 14% in 2011. This tally of 64 reported hate crimes in 2011 is up from 56 reported in 2010.

 

Race/Ethnicity Motive in 50% of Crimes: 30 of the hate crimes reported in Orange County in 2011 targeted victims based on their perceived race, ethnicity or national origin.

 

Religious Hate Crime Up: Approximately 25% of hate crimes targeted individuals based on their perceived religion.

 

Sexual Orientation Hate Crime Up: There was an increase in hate crimes against the Gay/Lesbian community - from 5 in 2010, to 7 in 2011.

 

While these numbers may seem small in a county with a population of over 3 million,  it is important to recognize that each hate crime included in the report represents one of our neighbors who was targeted simply because of some aspect of their being - their ethnicity, religion, race, sexual orientation or ability.