Hate Crimes Information

The Center OC wants to ensure that all victims of hate crimes receive the services and assistance they need.

A hate crime is any criminal act in which the perpetrator targets the victim because of the victim's race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, or disability status. California laws call for enhanced penalties for these types of crimes. Some common examples include: racist graffiti on another's property, burning a cross on someone's lawn, assault, and criminal threat (source: 2003 Hate Crime & Incidents Orange County Report).

A hate incident is an action that is motivated by bias but does not constitute any crime. The First Amendment protects these actions as a right to freedom of expression. This freedom, however, cannot interfere with another person's civil rights. Some common examples of hate incidents include: the distribution of non-threatening racist flyers in public, the display of non-threatening anti-gay or lesbian placards at a parade, or a letter ridiculing people with disabilities. Documented hate incidents can possibly be used to show motivation of bias if a person goes on to commit a hate crime (source: 2003 Hate Crime & Incidents Orange County Report).

If you are the victim of a hate crime as defined above, you should call 911 and report it immediately.

The Center OC works closely with OC Human Relations and the OC Hate Crime Victim Assistance Partnership to track and deal with hate crimes and hate incidents. We meet regularly with representatives from these two organizations and others as part of a Hate Crime Victim Assistance Partnership to develop ways to aid victims. One key outcome of this partnership was the creation of a standardized hate crime and incident report form to document such events. If you believe you may have been the victim of a hate crime or hate incident and want to talk with someone about it, please give us a call. We will ask you questions about what happened and--where indicated--connect you with the appropriate agencies for assistance.

The Center Orange County:  714-534-0862.

OC Human Relations: 714-567-5054.

OC Hate Crime Victim Assistance Partnership: 949-975-0244.