L.A. County seeks to classify violence against the homeless as hate crimes
Molly Hennessy-Fiske of the L.A. Times writes about the Los Angeles County effort to begin tracking the growing number of atrocious violent acts against the homeless as hate crimes. Union Rescue Mission resident, Richard Pearson, is featured as one of many victims of violence.
During the last year, the homeless in Los Angeles County have been set on fire, stabbed, shot and beaten with baseball bats in attacks. Advocates for the homeless say the incidents have become more violent but until now no one has tracked such crimes countywide.
Los Angeles County supervisors on Tuesday unanimously recommended that sheriff’s deputies, prosecutors and the county Human Relations Commission start tracking and reporting attacks on the homeless as hate crimes. The vote came as the economy worsens and the number of homeless in the county increases — with some shelters seeing four times as many people seeking help this winter.
The Rev. Andy Bales, chief executive of downtown’s Union Rescue Mission, called the hate crime proposal “long overdue.” Bales said he believes the intensity of such crimes has gotten worse.
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