Policy Text
SACRAMENTO POLICE DEPARTMENT
GENERAL ORDERS
GO 524.04
Page 1 of 6
524.04
Hate Crimes
6-23-21
PURPOSE
This policy is designed to assist in identifying , reporting and investigating crimes motivated by hate or other bias
toward individuals and groups with legally defined protected characteristics, to define appropriate steps for
assisting victims, and to provide a guide to conducting related investigations. It outlines the general policy
framework for prevention, response , victim assistance and follow -up, and reporting as related to law
enforcement’s role in handling hate crimes. It also serves as a declaration that hate crimes are taken seriously
and demonstrates how the Sacramento Police Department may best use its resources to investigate and solve
an offense, in addition to build ing community trust and increasing police legitimacy (Penal Code § 13519.6).
POLICY
The Sacramento Police Department shall ensure that rights estab lished by State and Federal law are protected
for all individuals irrespective of their disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation,
and/or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics. Any acts
or threats of violence, property damage, harassment, intimid ation, or other crimes motivated by hate or bias sh all
be viewed very seriously and given high priority.
This department will employ available resources and take action to identify and arrest hate crime suspects . Also,
recognizing the particular fears and distress typically suffered by victims of hate crimes , the potential for reprisal
and escalation of violence, and the far -reaching negative consequences of these crimes on the community, this
department shall take all reasonable steps to attend to the security and related concerns of the immediate victims
and their families as feasible.
PROCEDURE
A. DEFINITION S: In accordance with California Penal Code § 422.55; Penal Code § 422.56; Penal Code §
422.6; and Penal C ode § 422.87, unless an explicit provision of law or the context clearly requires a different
meaning, the following shall apply:
1. Bias motivation - Bias motivation is a pre -existing negative attitude toward actual or perceived
characteristics referenced in Penal Code § 422.55. Depending on the circumstances of each
case, bias motivation may include but is not limited to hatred, animosity, resentment , revulsion,
contempt, unreasonable fear, paranoia, callousness, thrill -seeking, desire for social dominance,
desire for social bonding with those of one’s “own kind,” or a perception of the vulnerability of the
victim due to the victim being perceived as being weak, worthless, or fair game because of a
protected characteristic, including but not limited to disability or gender.
2. Disability - Disability includes mental disability and physical disability as defined in Government
Code § 12926, regardless of wh ether those disabilities are temporary, permanent, congenital, or
acquired by heredity, accident, injury, advanced age, or illness.
3. Gender - The state of being male or female (typically used with reference to social and cultural
differences rather than biological ones).
4. Gender expression – Gender -related traits that may or may not be consistent with those traits
typically associated with a person’s sex assigned at birth; external manifestations of gender,
expressed through one’s name, pronouns, clothing, haircut, behavior, voice or body
characteristics.
5. Gender identity - An individual’s sense of being either male or female or something other or in
between; this may be different from what is traditionally associated with an individual’s sex
assigned at birth.
SACRAMENTO POLICE DEPARTMENT
GENERAL ORDERS
GO 524.04
Page 2 of 6
6. Hate crime - “Hate crime” includes , but is not limited to , a violation of Penal Code § 422.6 . A
hate crime is a criminal act committed, in whole or in part, because of one or more of the following
actual or perceived characteristics of the victim:
a. Disability
b. Gender
c. Nationality
d. Race or ethnicity
e. Religion
f. Sexual orientation ; or
g. Association with a person or group with one or more of the foregoing actual or
perceived characteristics .
1. Per the Penal Code, “association” may include advocacy for, identification with,
or being on the ground owned or rented by, or adjacent to, any of the following:
a community center, educational facility, family, individual, office, meeting hall,
place of worship, private institution, public agency, library, or other entity,
group, or person that has, or is identified with people who have, one or more of
those characteristics listed in the definition of “hate crime” under paragraphs 1
to 6, inclusive, of Penal Code § 422.55(a).
Note: A “hate crime” need not be motivated by hate but may be motivated by any bias
against a protected characteristic.
7. Hate incident - A hate incident is an action or behavior motivated by hate or bias but legally
protected by the First Amendment right to freedom of expression. Examples of hate incidents
may include , but are not limited to :
a. Name -calling
b. Communicating i nsults and epithets
c. Distributing hate material in public places
d. Displaying hate material on your own property
8. Hate speech - The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects