SAN FRANCISCO - (INT) – Reported hate crime events in California rose by 11 percent in 2016, but were actually down 47 percent over the past ten years.

Hate crimes with an anti-black or African American bias motivation continue to be the most common, accounting for about one-third of all hate crimes. Those with a sexual orientation bias are the second most common type of hate crime and those with a religion bias were the third most common over the past ten years in California.

The number of victims increased 9.4 percent while the number of suspects of reported hate crimes increased 16.8 percent last year.

The total number of hate crime events, offenses, victims, and suspects all increased in 2016, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra reported.

Story Date: August 21, 2017