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Hate crimes against people with disabilities have been called the invisible epidemic. They are common, but the criminals who commit them typically are charged with lesser crimes — if they are arrested at all.
Next week our community has a chance to make its voice heard – for the first time – about these hidden hate crimes.
Two legislative committees will hold a hearing on hate crimes at 9:30 a.m. to noon Tuesday, August 7, in Room 4202 in the Capitol. I will be on one of the witness panels, but my one voice is not enough.
At the end of the scheduled witnesses, the committees will listen to anyone who wants to speak.
If you have ever been a victim of, or if you know about, an anti-disability hate crime, and you wish to speak on this important topic, then please come prepared to use your two minutes to tell the Legislature about it. If you would like help developing your story then you can contact Greg deGiere at The Arc California at greg@thearcca.org or (916) 552-6619.
What makes a crime a hate crime with stiffer penalties than other crimes? A hate crime is a criminal act committed partly or wholly because of the victim’s real or perceived disability or other protected characteristic (gender, race or ethnicity, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, or association with a person or group with one of these protected characteristics).
People with disabilities are subject to violent crimes at about twice the rate of the general population, and they are subject to violent sexual assault at about four times the rate of others. These crimes are often committed by caregivers and often involve extraordinary acts of sadism.
Many of these crimes are motivated by hostility to persons who arouse fear or guilt, fear of persons whose visible traits may be disturbing to others, resentment of those who need, demand or receive alternative accommodations, or a bias that people with disabilities are inferior and therefore “deserving” or even amusing victims. These are hate crimes, although police almost never recognize them.
Some of these hare crimes are committed by that the Penal Code calls “multi-mission criminal extremist” groups that target victims because of their race, religion, homeless status, and disabilities.
The newest California Department of Justice hate crime statistics identify just four – FOUR – anti-disability hate crimes in 2017. This laughably low figure is typical of police reports nationally. In 2016, law enforcement agencies reported just 97 anti-disability hate crimes to trhe FBI, while a U.S. Department of Justice survey counted about 40,000.
In other words, police overlooked 99.7 percent of these anti-disability hate crimes.
Last year we led a coalition of California civil rights groups that successfully advocated for a state performance audit of law enforcement’s response to hate crimes. Assemblymember Kansen Chu, the Assembly Select Committee on Hate Crimes chair, took the lead for the civil rights groups and convinced the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to unanimously order the performance audit.
The audit report’s title tells the whole story: Hate Crimes in California: Law Enforcement Has Not Adequately Identified, Reported, or Responded to Hate Crimes. The two legislative committees are holding their joint hearing on the report next week.
Unfortunately, the audit didn’t specially cover anti-disability hate crimes. That’s where we come in next week.
Please join us if you can.
Greg DeGiere, Civil Rights Coordinator, The Arc of California