L.A. County’s Human Relations Commission released its 2024 Report on Hate Crime last week, with the countywide numbers remaining well above historic levels, despite a 1% year-over-year decrease.
The data also indicate that locally the numbers are down, from 12 incidents reported to the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station in 2023 to seven in 2024.
In 2024, there were four incidents that were anti-Black or anti-African-American in nature, two were reported as being anti-Jewish in their discrimination and one reported the crime as anti-Asian in nature, according to the Sheriff’s Department’s log. Two occurred in February, one in May, three in October and one toward the end of November.
There were a total of 10 victims from the seven incidents in 2024. The year-to-date data for 2025 was not immediately available Monday.
Sheriff Robert Luna referred to the incidents as crimes against the community in a statement released Thursday in response to the report.
“Hate crimes are serious offenses and when someone is targeted for who they are, it’s not just a crime against that individual but against our entire community,” Luna said. “The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigates all hate-motivated acts with the highest priority and seeks to hold offenders accountable. We want our community to know that we are here to protect them and that hate has no place in Los Angeles County.”
Reported hate crimes in Los Angeles County decreased slightly by 1% from 1,367 in 2023 to 1,355 in 2024, the second highest total in the history of this report.
The data from 2019 to 2023 showed increases every year, from 530 to 644 to 795 to 930, before last year’s figure, which was the highest in more than 40 years of tracking.
According to the commission, race, ethnicity and national origin were by far the most common motivation, representing nearly half, 48%, of all hate crimes. The 678 victims in 2024 was the highest count in its current database.
In terms of the nature of reports, African Americans “were again grossly over-represented in the overall total of those targeted, and made up 51% of racial hate crime victims,” according to the data.
