Hate crimes against LGBT people have risen slightly in 2014 and actually have tied in number of hate crime incidents with racial overtones, according to the San Diego police chief’s annual report on crime statistics.
There were 17 documented victims in 2014 involving sexual orientation as opposed to 13 such incidents in 2013. For the first time, this category tied with 17 hate crimes attributed to ethnicity in 2014.
“We want them – all victims – to come forward,” said Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman Feb. 25 before the Public Safety & Livable Neighborhoods Committee.
“We work closely with The LGBT Center,” said Zimmerman.
The report says there were only three other hate crimes that were attributed to religious reasons in 2014 for a total of 37 incidents. This also represents a decrease in racial hate crimes, as there were 22 racial incidents and nine incidents involving religion in 2013.
Overall, however, hate crimes decreased by nearly 16 percent in 2014, the report said. Crimes involving religion include spray painting of swastikas.
The report also showed there were only 32 homicides in city limits in 2014 as compared with 39 in 2013, which is a reduction of nearly 18 percent. In the 1980s, there were often more than 130 slayings that occurred each year.
The report says the department solved 75 percent of all the murders that occurred in 2014, with 56.4 percent solved in 2013.
“A lot of this is very good news,” said District Third Councilmember Todd Gloria. “It’s a very good report,” he added while noting the slight increase on LGBT hate crimes.
Robberies decreased by 9.5 percent. In 2014, 1,318 people reported being held up while 1,456 people were robbed in 2013. Aggravated assaults remained virtually the same at 3,493 incidents, with one less such assault in 2013.
Rapes increased in the city by 17.4 percent. In 2014, 371 people reported they were sexually assaulted as compared to 316 in 2013. The clearance rate for rape in 2014 was reported as 37.7 percent.
The police chief attributed some of the rise in rapes to the “North Park Creeper.” A suspect was arrested and is awaiting trial.
Zimmerman said in some of the categories, the crime rate has lowered to the levels of the 1960s and 1970s. There were 4,916 fewer property crimes in 2014 over 2013. Burglaries fell from 6,355 in 2013 to 5,115 in 2014, and there were 1,137 fewer vehicle thefts in 2014 from 2013.
There was a 2.1 percent increase in total domestic violence cases. There was a 7.9 percent decrease in crimes committed by gang members. Juvenile crimes decreased by 2.2 percent.
Officers responded to 576,677 calls in 2014, which is 1,254 more than in 2013.
There was no vote from the committee as it was an information item. The meeting was run by Vice Chair Chris Cate as Chairperson Marti Emerald was out ill. Fourth District Councilmember Myrtle Cole also praised the report.
It was a packed committee room with numerous public speakers, many of whom talked about the concentration of bars and restaurants which serve alcohol.
