F.B.I. report: Santa Paula had three reported hate crimes during 2006
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
Published: February 27, 2008
Annoying phone calls to a black woman with the “N” word used, a Korean woman attacked by a self-proclaimed skinhead, and a Hispanic man who found a swastika keyed into his vandalized car were the three incidents categorized as hate crimes that occurred in Santa Paula in 2006.
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula Times
Annoying phone calls to a black woman with the “N” word used, a Korean woman attacked by a self-proclaimed skinhead, and a Hispanic man who found a swastika keyed into his vandalized car were the three incidents categorized as hate crimes that occurred in Santa Paula in 2006.
Hate crimes decreased throughout Ventura County in 2006, according to an F.B.I. report, which tracked such reported instances throughout the nation. Santa Paula’s report of three hate crimes in 2006 was an increase from the one reported in 2005.
In the 2006 reporting period, 24 hate crimes were reported in Ventura County, compared with the 29 in 2005. Nationwide, hate crimes jumped 7.8 percent year-over-year, with 7,722 reported in 2006.
Santa Paula’s reported 2006 hate crimes were categorized as one stemming from race and two based on ethnicity.
Santa Paula Police Department Chief Steve MacKinnon said that the first 2006 hate crime occurred in March, “having to do with a black female receiving phone calls using the ‘N’ word and other racial comments.... No suspect was ever identified.”
In May 2006, a woman of Korean origin “got involved in an argument with a male who told her he was a skinhead.... He became enraged with the woman and actually assaulted her,” causing minor injuries to her right ear.
MacKinnon said that in September 2006, a “Hispanic male came out of his house and found a swastika keyed into the hood of his car and all his seats had been slashed. Some stereo equipment was also stolen.”
The “criteria for federal guidelines is anything that occurred that could have been motivated” by the race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity or disability of the victim, said MacKinnon. If, during a crime, “statements are made or actions taken” that indicate a hate crime, “we highlight that and report such crimes separately from our other crimes.”
In Ventura County, 10 of the hate crimes reported in 2006 were motivated by bias against a religion, eight were related to race, four to ethnicity and two to sexual orientation. There were no hate crimes reported involving disabilities.
During 2006, the highest number of hate crimes was reported in Camarillo, with eight incidents. Five hate crimes were reported in both Simi Valley and Ventura. Ventura County’s reported hate crimes involving religion were more than the 2006 national average.
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