The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported Nov. 19 that hate crimes rose 25 percent in San Diego city and 32 percent in San Diego County in 2006. Sexual orientation bias was the leading motivation for hate crime in the city, while assaults prompted by racial hatred led in the county.

The statistics “can be interpreted in various ways,” said Deputy District Attorney Oscar Garcia, who specializes in hate-crime prosecutions. “I don’t place full weight on the stats. I think they’re only a guide to us to help us look at what’s happening in the community. For example, FBI statistics don’t include all jurisdictions. It’s voluntary.”

Garcia said, however, that the FBI report is consistent with what he sees on the job. “I’ve been in this assignment for the last year and a half, and I’ve seen [hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation and ethnic bias] rise.”

According to a recent article in The San Diego Union-Tribune, the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) reported 55 hate crimes in 2006, compared with 41 in 2005, and the county Sherriff’s Department reported 31, up from 21 the previous year.

San Diego Assistant Police Chief Bill Maheu says that rise is likely caused by at least two factors: “We’re more sensitive to the issue. We realize that hate crimes are something that affect the whole community,” he said.

Yet while Maheu says people are less reluctant to report hate crimes because society now supports doing so with laws and sentencing, he adds the rise also likely indicates an actual increase in hate crimes.

Nationally, the FBI reports, hate crimes rose 8 percent last year.

It’s difficult to pinpoint hate as a motivation for crime, however. Often, the only way to determine whether a crime is motivated by hate, say Garcia and Maheu, is by the suspects’ comments or actions or something dropped or marked on the scene.

Training police officers in how to respond to hate crimes is perhaps a more manageable challenge. Garcia teaches a class at the San Diego Police Academy to sensitize officers to hate crimes and their effects on victims. The course does not specifically target sexual orientation or ethnic bias but instead provides instruction in handling all types of hate crimes, Garcia said. “I give them case examples,” of situations in which the police handled the situation well and cases in which they did not.

The officers learn not only how hate crimes affect individuals but the ramifications for entire communities, he said, citing the Pride attacks last year by way of illustration. “That’s a great example… of the police chief recognizing this was a significant case of hate crimes against the community, and there needed to be a very immediate and aggressive response from law enforcement, and how that would help future contact with …[the GLBT community] in aiding them in work in future investigations in hate crimes.”

One of the community’s responses to the Pride attacks was the launch of Stonewall Citizens’ Patrol, a local group whose 27 volunteers take turns monitoring the Hillcrest/North Park area Thursday through Sunday nights. Ben Gomez, a logistics coordinator for the patrol notes that he is not aware of any anti-gay attacks in the area this year. However, Stonewall is “increasing our efforts, going down more alleys,” Gomez said. The group has also arranged “refresher” training with the San Diego Police Department and has invited SDPD’s Graffiti Task Force to provide training in how to decipher gang signs and other symbols of hate at crime scenes.

Stonewall also hopes to increase its numbers more than threefold to 100 volunteers. The LGBT Community Center’s volunteer recruiting fair and advertising sponsorships are its main means of doing so, Gomez said. “The goal is to have four patrols, two in Hillcrest, two in North Park.” Currently, Stonewall has one patrol. A hindrance in attracting more volunteers to date, he said, has been that volunteers need to use their own vehicles. Stonewall does, however, provide a “committed cellphone, gas cards, a jersey, flash lights, a miniature video camera, binoculars and six hours of Red Cross training.”

Anyone wishing to volunteer for the Stonewall Citizens’ Patrol can download an application at: www.stonewallcitizens.com.

The Center holds its volunteer recruiting fair on Wednesday, Jan. 9, from 5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. in the auditorium.