doc_589347

Policy 319Santa Ana Police Department Santa Ana PD Policy Manual Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2025/02/26, All Rights Reserved. Published with permission by Santa Ana Police DepartmentHate Crimes - 1Hate Crimes 319.1 PURPOSE AND SCOPE The purpose of this policy is to meet or exceed the provisions of Penal Code § 13519.6(c) and provides members of this department with guidelines for identifying and investigating incidents and crimes that may be motivated by hatred or other bias. 319.1.1 DEFINITIONS In accordance with CPC sections 422.55, 422.56, 422.6, and 422.87, for purposes of all other state law unless an explicit provision of law or the context clearly requires a different meaning, the following shall apply: Hate crimes - A criminal act committed in whole or in part, because of one or more of the following actual or perceived characteristics of the victim (Penal Code § 422.55; Penal Code § 422.56; Penal Code § 422.57): (a)Disability (b)Gender (c)Nationality (d)Race or ethnicity (e)Religion (f)Sexual orientation or gender identity (g)Association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics (h)Examples of hate crimes include, but are not limited to: (a)Interfering with, oppressing or threatening any other person in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured by the constitution or laws because of one or more of the actual or perceived characteristics of the victim (Penal Code § 422.6). (b)Defacing a person’s property because of one or more of the actual or perceived characteristics of the victim (Penal Code § 422.6(b)). (c)Terrorizing a person with a swastika or burning cross (Penal Code § 11411). (d)Vandalizing a place of worship (Penal Code § 594.3). The federal Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act expands federal hate crimes to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability (18 USC § 249). Hate Speech - The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects most speech, even when it is disagreeable, offensive, or hurtful. The following types of speech are generally not protected: fighting words, true threats, perjury, blackmail, incitement to lawless action, conspiracy and solicitation to commit any crime. Santa Ana Police Department Santa Ana PD Policy Manual Hate Crimes Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2025/02/26, All Rights Reserved. Published with permission by Santa Ana Police DepartmentHate Crimes - 2Hate 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 include: (a)Name-calling (b)Insults and epithets (c)Distributing hate material in public places (d)Displaying hate material on your own property Bias Motivation - Bias motivation is a preexisting negative attitude toward actual or perceived characteristics referenced in Section 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. Disability Bias -In recognizing suspected disability-bias hate crimes, officers should consider whether there is any indication that the perpetrator was motivated by hostility or other bias, occasioned by factors such as, but not limited to, dislike of persons who arouse fear or guilt, a perception that persons with disabilities are inferior and therefore “deserving victims,” a fear of persons whose visible traits are perceived as being disturbing to others, or resentment of those who need, demand, or receive alternative educational, physical, or social accommodations. In recognizing suspected disability-bias hate crimes, officers should consider whether there is any indication that the perpetrator perceived the victim to be vulnerable and, if so, if this perception is grounded, in whole or in part, in anti-disability bias. This includes, but is not limited to, if a perpetrator targets a person with a particular perceived disability while avoiding other vulnerable- appearing persons such as inebriated persons or persons with perceived disabilities different than those of the victim, those circumstances could be evidence that the perpetrator’s motivations included bias against persons with the perceived disability of the victim and that the crime must be reported as a suspected hate crime and not a mere crime of opportunity. Disability - Disability includes mental disability and physical disability as defined in GC 12926, regardless of whether those disabilities are temporary, permanent, congenital or acquired by heredity, accident, injury, advanced age or illness. Gender - Gender means sex and includes a person gender identity and gender expression. Gender expression means a person’s gender-related appearance and behavior, whether or not Santa Ana Police Department Santa Ana PD Policy Manual Hate Crimes Copyright Lexipol, LLC 2025/02/26, All Rights Reserved. Published with permission by Santa Ana Police DepartmentHate Crimes - 3st