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GENERAL ORDER #17.07 1 HATE CRIMES GENERAL ORDER #17.07 Adopted: 07/07/2010 Updated: 02/22/2010 Replaces: G.O. # 17.07 dated 1/10/2010 Reviewed: 02/22/2010 ****************************************************************************** POLICY It is the policy of the Sheriff’s Office to ensure that rights guaranteed by the constitutions and laws of the United States and the State of California for all citizens regardless of their race, color, religion, ethnic origin, national origin, or sexual orientation. The Sheriff’s Office has a zero tolerance policy for hate crimes, and will investigate all reported prejudice -based incidents and support vigorous prosecution of those apprehended for such acts. PROCEDURE A. DEFINITIONS 1. “Prejudice -based incident” or hat e crime: “Any violence, or intimidation by threat of violence against the person or property of another, where the motive of the perpetrator is hatred of one or more of the personal characteristics of the victim(s), including, but not limited to: race, co lor, religion, ancestry, national origin, political affiliation, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, or position in a labor dispute.” 2. Guidelines for hate crime determination: a. The hate crime must involve a specific target, such as an individual, property of an individual, residence, house of worship, religious or ethnic organization, or business. GENERAL ORDER #17.07 2 b. Graffiti must be racial, ethnic, religious, or homophobic in nature, such as swastikas, KKK, Nazi, or other hate group symbols, s logans or literature, or involve the use of epithets. c. Any assault against a person, in the absence of other apparent motivation, when initiated with, or involving racial, ethnic, religious, or homophobic epithets, will be considered to be a hate crime . d. Vandalism to a house of worship, ethnic, religious, gay and lesbian organization's property will be considered a hate crime in the absence of evidence of other motives. e. Obscene or threatening p hone calls, when containing racial, ethnic, religious or homophobic slurs, are considered hate crimes. f. Although the following are of concern because they may reflect intergroup tension, they are not considered hate crimes because they are not aimed a t a specific target or because of constitutional protections: 1. Graffiti on freeway overpasses, public phone booths, etc.; 2. “Punk rock” or gang graffiti, even if accompanied by a swastika; 3. Interracial crimes, such as robbery, assault or rape, which are motivated by factors other than race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation; 4. Intragroup acts, regardless of graffiti, including gang graffiti and other gang acts; 5. Name calling and epithets not accompanied by assault; and 6. KKK, Nazi, or other similar group rallies, leafleting, or recruiting drives. Reportable incidents include : criminal acts such as threatening phone calls, physical assaults, destruction of property, bomb threats, and disruption of religious meetings, as well as non -criminal acts, such as name calling or news articles, done with the apparent motive to harass, intimidate, threaten, retaliate, or create conflict among groups having different personal characteristics such as race, religion, ethnicity or sexual ori entation. Motivation: The motivation behind the act determines whether an incident is prejudice -based. When determining motivation, a deputy must ask: 1. Why does the victim believe he/she was victimized? GENERAL ORDER #17.07 3 2. Were words or symbols, such as a burnin g cross or swastika, used or acts performed which are or may be considered to be offensive to the victim or a particular group? 3. Is there a history of similar acts or crimes directed against the same individual or group, or against the person or perso ns with whom the victim is associated? 4. Does a meaningful portion of the community perceive the incident as prejudice - based? 5. If all the parties involved were of the same race, ethnicity, etc., would the incident still have occurred? 6. Has an injunction been issued in related cases? B. The proper investigation of hate crime incidents is the responsibility of each deputy. All deputies must be sensitive to the feelings, needs, and fears that may be present in the victim and the community as a result of incidents of this nature. The primary personnel responsible for investigating these types of incidents are the deputies responding first to the alleged incident. When a deputy on the scene determines (after applying the established crit eria) that a hate crime incident is alleged, the crime must be thoroughly investigated and a sensitive response provided to the victim(s) and community by following these procedures: C. INVESTIGATING DEPUTIES 1. Shall respond in a sensitive way to the feelings and needs of the victim(s). 2. Shall immediately take all possible investigative and enforcement action. 3. Shall record the incident on the appropriate form. 4. Shall preserve the crime scene and evid ence. 5. Shall note any hate crime -motivated destruction or defacement of property, such as cross burning or a painted swastika, with special attention to paints, drawings, remarks, handwriting, or other graphical evidence. Shall immediately report these findings