Hate crimes against LGBT people went down slightly in 2015 by 7 percent in a comparison with hate crimes in 2014, according to San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman’s crime statistical report.
Zimmerman expressed concern about another recent phenomenon – “pocket dials” of 911 – or as Third District Councilmember Todd Gloria characterized them as accidental “butt dials” when people sit on their cellphones.
Zimmerman presented the crime stats Feb. 3 before the Public Safety & Livable Neighborhood Committees at City Hall in a packed room. Some were amused about Gloria’s description.
The police chief said 911 operators have to call all “pocket dialers” back to make sure it is not an actual emergency. She said a study of 27 such calls found no emergency and people did not even know their cellphone called police.
The best solution is for people not to sit on their cellphones or turn them off, though most people are reluctant to turn off their cellphone.
As for hate crimes in 2015, there were 14 incidents involving LGBT people and 14 other incidents involving the victim’s perceived ethnicity. This is down from 17 in each category in 2014.
In previous years, crimes involving a victim’s ethnicity were the top hate crime category, but in recent years, crimes involving LGBT people have sometimes tied the race category.
There were seven hate crimes because of religion, which was 19.4 percent of the total. Lt. Mark Bennett told the committee the seven incidents were almost evenly divided involving Jewish or Muslim people.
These types of crimes usually involve spray painting of swastikas or slurs against both religions. There were three such incidents in 2014, and this represents an increase of 11.3 percent.
There was one crime committed because of a victim’s gender in 2015, but no information was given about that. There have not been hate crimes against a person’s gender for many years.
There were 566 rapes in 2015 as compared with 371 in 2014 for a 52.6 percent increase, but that is partly to do with a changing of the definition for rape that now includes men as victims.
Zimmerman’s report says they are using the FBI’s updated definition, which now includes additional sex crimes such as oral copulation or sodomy with an unconscious or intoxicated person, or mentally disabled adult.
This new classification includes both male and female victims. Previously those incidents were not classified as rape, particularly if the victims were male.
There were 37 murders in 2015 as compared with 32 in 2014, which is a 15.6 percent increase. The murder rate is substantially down from the 1980s when more than 100 slayings occurred in a year.
The decrease often suggested is the three strikes law where violent felons get longer prison terms. Medical advances and quick action to emergency rooms by ambulances also figure in as some victims are able to survive a shooting or attack.
The 102-page report is available online on the committee’s Web site or the city’s Web site. There are 66 pages that reference hundreds of events or community outreach groups, such as monthly meetings with the Violent Loss Support Group for survivors or families of violent crimes.
