Report 2017-131 Recommendation 6 Responses

Report 2017-131: Hate Crimes in California: Law Enforcement Has Not Adequately Identified, Reported, or Responded to Hate Crimes (Release Date: May 2018)

Recommendation #6 To: Justice, Department of

To increase the effectiveness of hate crime prevention and response efforts, DOJ should provide additional guidance to law enforcement agencies by creating and making available training materials for law enforcement agencies on how best to identify and respond to hate crimes.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From June 2021

In addition to what has been previously reported, DOJ has updated pertinent documents to reflect the current status of the office, including updating the RRP., hate crimes brochures, and other resources on DOJ's website. DOJ continues to distribute the RRP in multiple languages to LEAs and advocacy groups, using a targeted communications strategy.

Moving forward, DOJ will be working to expand on these programs to go beyond just compliance with the audit's recommendations. To that end, DOJ is working through the budget process for resources to further assist in disseminating updated guidance through in-person trainings, and to create and distribute outreach materials for the use of LEAs community engagement.

To further strengthen response to hate crimes, Attorney General Rob Bonta recently established the Racial Justice Bureau in the Civil Rights Enforcement Section. This bureau will significantly expand DOJ's work in this area, including leading efforts at the state and local levels, with the public and local law enforcement, in developing strategies and best practices to quickly and decisively address bias and hate crimes

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented

DOJ has updated its hate crime power point presentation that LEAs could use when conducting hate crime training and has added additional resources for LEAs on its website.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2020

The DOJ continues to train local agencies and has engaged in outreach to local human relations commissions and advocacy groups regarding hate crimes and hate incidents, including speaking at regional hate crimes prevention meetings. Using the new quality control process to compare the underlying incident reports with the hate crime statistical reporting submissions has proved valuable. This quality control process has improved hate crime reporting data quality and integrity, and aided in the development of training materials by helping identify data discrepancies and gaps that may have gone unnoticed otherwise. The DOJ continues to provide focused trainings on hate crime identification and reporting to reporting LEAs, most recently at two statewide annual conferences. In September 2020, we discussed DOJ's efforts and available publications and bulletins at a presentation entitled Hearing on Bias-Motivated Violence for the California Fair Employment and Housing Council.

The DOJ serves as the subject matter expert to POST along with various community groups and advocacy organizations and assisted POST in updating its model hate crimes policy guidance in May 2019. The DOJ assisted in distributing that updated guidance to law enforcement agencies across the state.

DOJ is working through the budget process to obtain additional resources to assist with the dissemination of the updated hate crimes policy guidance through in-person trainings and convenings. Additionally, DOJ continues to engage in numerous discussions and meetings with members of the Legislature, their staffs, and advocates advancing legislation to assess the impact of proposed legislation, including to weigh potential amendments to increase effectiveness and ensure compliance with constitutional principles.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Pending

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From May 2020

The DOJ continues to train local agencies and has engaged in outreach to local human relations commissions and advocacy groups regarding hate crimes and hate incidents, including speaking at regional hate crimes prevention meetings. Using the new quality control process to compare the underlying incident reports with the hate crime statistical reporting submissions has proved valuable. This quality control process has improved hate crime reporting data quality and integrity, and aided in the development of training materials by helping identify data discrepancies and gaps that may have gone unnoticed otherwise. The DOJ continues to provide focused trainings on hate crime identification and reporting to reporting LEAs, most recently at two statewide annual conferences.

The DOJ serves as the subject matter expert to POST along with various community groups and advocacy organizations and assisted POST in updating its model hate crimes policy guidance in May 2019. The DOJ assisted in distributing that updated guidance to law enforcement agencies across the state.

Additionally, the DOJ is working through the budget process to obtain additional resources to assist with the dissemination of the updated hate crimes policy guidance through in-person trainings and convenings.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Pending

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From November 2019

We continue to train local agencies and have engaged in outreach to local human relations commissions and advocacy groups regarding hate crimes and hate incidents, including speaking at regional hate crimes convenings. Using the new quality control process comparing the underlying incident reports with the hate crime statistical reporting submissions has proved valuable in not only improving hate crime reporting data integrity but also improving data quality and integrity and in identifying discrepancies and gaps for use in developing training materials. The DOJ continues to provide trainings to reporting LEAs focused on hate crime identification and reporting, most recently at two, statewide annual conferences.

DOJ serves as the subject matter expert to POST along with various community groups and advocacy organizations and assisted POST in updating its model hate crimes policy guidance in May 2019. DOJ assisted in distributing that updated guidance to law enforcement agencies across the state.

Additionally, we are working through the budget process to obtain additional resources to assist us in disseminating that updated guidance through in-person trainings and convenings.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Partially Implemented

1-Year Agency Response

We have continued the activities described in the 6-month update, including reviewing LEA reports for accuracy and offering training where appropriate. Recently, (May 2019), we delivered our regional joint hate crimes trainings to LEAs with the FBI.

We also continue to serve as a subject matter expert to assist POST as it updates its model hate crimes policy guidance. When the guidance materials are complete, we will assist in distributing them to law enforcement agencies across the state.

Additionally, we are working through the budget process to obtain additional resources to assist us in providing more robust guidance and materials to local law enforcement agencies. Governor Newsom's budget released in January 2019 allocated additional resources to DOJ, however the budget must still be approved by the Legislature.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Pending

6-Month Agency Response

Since our last report, we have taken important new steps to help law enforcement agencies accurately identify and report hate crimes to DOJ. First, as noted above, we have started requiring LEAs to provide copies of the underlying incident reports along with their Hate Crime statistical submissions. Receiving and reviewing these reports has allowed us to identify discrepancies and gaps and to use this information to go back to the reporting agencies to provide training and solicit corrected or supplemental data. Our staff have also conducted three additional trainings focused on hate crime identification and reporting with the goal of improving identification and reporting of hate crimes. Additionally, we are partnering with the FBI to provide two regional hate crimes trainings to law enforcement agencies in May 2019 focused on the following: what constitutes a federal hate crime, hate crime statutes and elements, landmark cases, incident scenarios, and case studies. The joint trainings will also cover how to report a hate crime, emphasize the importance and value of reporting hate crime data, and highlight the use of hate crime statistics. We are serving as a subject matter expert along with various community groups and advocacy organizations, to assist POST as it updates its model hate crimes policy guidance. When the guidance materials are complete, we will assist in distributing them to law enforcement agencies across the state.

Finally, we are working through the budget process to obtain additional resources to assist us in providing more robust guidance and materials to local law enforcement agencies.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Partially Implemented

60-Day Agency Response

Among the resources DOJ recently disseminated to law enforcement is an information bulletin summarizing key criminal and civil laws that prohibit hate crimes and/or provide enhanced penalties. DOJ released guidance and a model policy framework from the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to assist law enforcement in identifying and handling hate crimes and to help ensure accurate and timely reporting. The guide includes information for law enforcement agencies about developing expertise to identify and investigate hate crimes; coordinating hate crime plans with other local and regional law enforcement agencies; and detailed guidance regarding developing and implementing a hate crimes training program for agency personnel.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Partially Implemented

Although DOJ has made some of POST's hate crime training materials available on its website, we believe DOJ could do more to assist law enforcement agencies with how best to identify and respond to hate crimes. As we note in the audit report, although DOJ has provided guidance by distributing instructions on how to complete report forms and other support, 81 percent of surveyed law enforcement agencies indicated that they had not received hate crime related guidance from DOJ. DOJ needs to do more to ensure that law enforcement agencies can accurately identify hate crimes and then report those hate crimes to the DOJ hate crime database.

All Recommendations in 2017-131

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.