The report says hate crimes declined 6 percent from 489 in 2011 to 462 in 2012.
"We are encouraged that for several years in a row the number of hate crimes in L.A. County has been about half of those reported in the late 90s and early 2000s," said Robin Toma, executive director of the commission, in a statement.
There are four groups that constituted 86 percent of all hate crime victims in 2012: blacks, lesbians and gay men, Jews and Latinos. While hate crimes targeting those four groups changed little from 2011, crimes against most other ethnic and religious groups declined, the report found.
According to the report, there was an increase in the overall rate of violence occurring in hate crimes. For sexual orientation crimes, the rate of violence grew 8 percent to 79 percent, while in racial crimes, the rate grew 7 percent to 61 percent.
"I prosecuted hate crimes earlier in my career, and even though the numbers are declining, 462 hate crimes are 462 too many for our county," said District Attorney Jackie Lacey in a statement. "I will continue to make hate crime prosecution a priority for our county."
Hate crimes occurred throughout Los Angeles County, but the largest number took place in the metro region, which stretches from West Hollywood to Boyle Heights.
To view the complete report, visit www.lahumanrelations.org.
