Residents of Los Angeles can now more easily report hate incidents thanks to a new system implemented by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). The LAPD is the first police department in the country to accept online reports of hate incidents.
While this system doesn’t cover hate crimes, it’s expected to streamline the process for victims of hate incidents, making it faster and simpler to obtain police reports.
At the press conference, held at LAPD headquarters on January 11, LAPD Chief Michel Moore announced that the LAPD, starting this year, will include ‘hate incidents’ as a new category in its existing online reporting system (CORS), on its website.
“The challenge is that, for people attempting to report a non-crime, the lengthening response time is a significant matter that concerns them, creates fear and apprehension in those communities,” he said, explaining the move as a way to address underreporting and increase the speed of response.
Chief Moore explained that hate incidents typically involve actions like epithets or gestures tied to race, religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation, but don’t rise to the level of hate crimes, which involve assault, weapons, or injury.
Before this change, online reporting of a hate incident wouldn’t proceed if the incident didn’t qualify as a hate crime, making it impossible to report for the victim.
The LAPD is the only police department in the country that accepts online reports of hate incidents, according to LAPD.
“The LAPD is the only police department in the country that accepts online reports of hate incidents,” said Chief Assistant Danny Chow, adding “some police departments don’t accept reports of hate incidents at all.”
According to the LAPD, hate crimes in Los Angeles rose by 14% last year, while hate incidents saw a larger increase of 38%.
“Anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim, and anti-Arab hate crimes spiked 190% and 850%, respectively, especially after the events of last October (Israel-Hamas war),” said LAPD Assistant Chief Blake Chow.
“We’re looking for funding to introduce proper translations to the website, including Korean, Chinese, and Japanese,” said Chow. “We’ll be adding translations in multiple languages and partnering with key organizations in the community to educate residents on how to report.”
Since its launch in 2016, the LAPD’s online reporting system has seen significant growth, from 1,300 reports in its inaugural year.
Since then, it has expanded to include about a dozen categories, including phone harassment, vandalism, theft, and minor traffic accidents. As of last year, LAPD received 131,000 reports, a more than 100-fold increase in seven years.
When filing an online report, complainants immediately receive a temporary report number.
The LAPD mentioned that incidents reported online are typically reviewed within an average of 24 hours, though this timeframe may extend over weekends or holidays. If the case is approved, the complainant will be issued an official police report number and will receive a copy of the final report via email.
If the incident requires further investigation, the reporting person will be contacted by the police via email or phone.
BY SUAH JANG, HOONSIK WOO [jang.suah@koreadaily.com]
