No hate crimes were committed in Temecula during 2011, according to an FBI report released Monday.
The statistics, published Dec. 10 by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting program in Hate Crime Statistics, 2011, provide data about the offenses, victims, offenders and locations of the incidents reported by law enforcement agencies throughout the nation.
For reporting purposes, hate crimes are categorized by bias motivation. These include offenses targeting a particular race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity/national origin, or physical or mental disability.
The Temecula Police Department was among agencies that reported no such offenses, the report showed.
This was down from two hate crimes during 2010 in Temecula and one in 2009, according to sheriff’s Deputy Albert Martinez, who serves as a spokesperson for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department of which the Temecula Police Department is a division.
“The Temecula Police Department investigates all reported hate crimes and is proud to say that in 2011 there were zero incidents,” Martinez said.
The FBI report revealed that nationwide in 2011, there were 6,216 single-bias incidents, of which 46.9 percent were motivated by a racial bias, 20.8 percent were motivated by a sexual orientation bias, 19.8 percent were motivated by a religious bias, and 11.6 percent were motivated by an ethnicity/national origin bias. Bias against a disability accounted for 0.9 percent of single-bias incidents.
Temecula residents were encouraged to continue to report criminal activity, including hate crimes.
“The Temecula Police Department has a ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy toward criminal activity and will be vigilant in investigating all crimes,” Martinez said. “The Police Department encourages citizens and business owners to report any criminal activity.”
