Diverse Loma Linda/Redlands Practically Hate Crime Free

The diversity of cultures and religions in Loma Linda and Redlands has been an asset and not a source for racially charged crimes, according to statistics recently released by the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

The bureau released their 2010 Hate Crime Statistics. According to the numbers, Loma Linda and Redlands had one reported hate crime between the two of them.

The single incident happened in March 2010 in Redlands.

A resident received an anonymous letter that read “gays or Mexicans” should move or they would be hurt, said Carl Baker, spokesman with the Redlands Police Department. The resident is both Hispanic and homosexual, Baker said.

“There was no return address or indication who sent the letter,” Baker said. There have been no further incidents reported, Baker said.

“The fact that Loma Linda hasn’t had any reports of hate crimes is obviously good news,” said Jodi Miller, spokeswoman with San Bernardino County Sheriff’s.

It’s also a testament to Loma Linda’s focus toward peace lead by the strong presence of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, city officials have said.

Agencies across the country report incidents that include intimidation, vandalism, assault, rape and murder that include an element of bias against a race or religion, FBI officials.

Based on the FBI’s data 6,628 hate crimes were reported by law enforcement agencies across the country. In 2009, there were 6,604 incidents reported.

“The hate crimes report is fairly reflective of the country,” FBI officials said in a news release. “Agencies that participated in the Uniform Crime Reporting Hate Crime Statistics Program effort in 2010 represented more than 285 million people, or 92.3 percent of the nation’s population, and their jurisdictions covered 49 states and the District of Columbia. Of the 14,977 agencies that submitted data, 1,949 reported that hate crime incidents had occurred in their jurisdictions.”

FBI officials provided the following report highlights:

• Law enforcement reported 8,208 victims of hate crimes — a “victim” can be an individual, a business, an institution or society as a whole.
• Of the 6,628 hate crime incidents reported for 2010, nearly all (6,624) involved a single bias — 47.3 percent of the single-bias incidents were motivated by race; 20 percent by religion; 19.3 by sexual orientation; 12.8 percent by an ethnicity/national origin bias; and 0.6 by physical or mental disability.
• As a result of the 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crime Prevention Act, the FBI is implementing changes to collect additional data for crimes motivated by a bias against a particular gender or gender identity, as well as for hate crimes committed by or directed against juveniles.
• A reported 4,824 offenses were crimes against persons — intimidation accounted for 46.2 percent of these offenses; simple assault for 34.8 percent; and aggravated assault for 18.4 percent.
• There were 2,861 reported offenses of crimes against property — the majority (81.1 percent) were acts of destruction/damage/vandalism.
• Of the 6,008 known offenders, 58.6 were white and 18.4 percent were black.
• 31.4 percent of reported hate crime incidents took place in or near homes.