Newport, Costa Mesa see drop in hate crimes

Deepa Bharath

Hate crimes declined slightly in both cities in 2002 compared to the

previous year reflecting a statewide trend, the state Attorney

General reported on Tuesday.

Newport Beach reported four hate crimes last year compared to six

in 2001 while Costa Mesa reported only one compared to three the

previous year. Statewide, hate crimes in 2002 decreased by 26.6%

compared to 2001, the attorney general’s report said.

Neighboring cities such as Huntington Beach, with a population

higher than both Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, reported one hate

crime while Irvine, similar to Costa Mesa in size, reported two

incidents.

Newport Beach arrested one person in one case and had a suspect in

another case in 2002. Costa Mesa had no suspects in its only case.

Newport Beach Police Sgt. Steve Shulman said he does not view the

city’s numbers as high.

“The significant thing about these incidents was that no one was

injured,” he said.

Shulman said one of the incidents involved two 12-year-olds, one

of whom called the other by a racially derogatory name and invited

him to a fight.

“Then one boy ended up hitting the other boy,” he said.

Another incident involved vandalism where someone had scratched a

swastika and racial slur targeted at homosexuals on a car door,

Shulman said.

“The victim in that case was from our city and he did not believe

the racial comments were directed at him,” he said.

An arrest was made in two incidents, one of which involved a

Tustin man who allegedly threatened a victim, chased him and

assaulted him. The assault and threat to terrorize charges were

thrown out and the man spent 10 days in county jail for disturbing

the peace, Shulman said.

Another incident happened at a business when an African American

found derogatory comments written in his locker with a black marker,

he said. No charges were filed in that case.

Shulman said his department is conscientious about reporting hate

crimes.

“If we are not sure, we’d rather err on the side of reporting it

rather than not reporting it,” he said.

Shulman said the number of hate crimes are not high given the

number of people who live in, visit and pass through the city.

“We’d rather not have any hate crimes in this city,” he said. “But

living in a complex and dense society, that’s almost impossible.”

Costa Mesa Police officials were not able to get information about

the incident on Tuesday. But Sgt. Bob Ciszek said hate crimes are

“particularly disturbing.”

“It’s the intent behind the crime that makes it disturbing,” he

said. “The intent is purely hate.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at [email protected].