California DOJ: 2025 report shows hate incidents remain historically elevated despite modest decline
August 04, 2026 | Select Committee on Wildfire Prevention, Select Committees, California State Assembly, House, Legislative, California
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Regina Garza, special assistant attorney general at the California Department of Justice, summarized the department's 2025 Hate Crimes in California report and cautioned lawmakers that the statistics reflect reported incidents and do not capture all hate in the state.
“The data should be understood as indicators of reported criminal activity rather than a comprehensive measure of hate in our states,” Garza told the Select Committee on Hate, Racism, and Xenophobia. She emphasized that the report relies on locally submitted law-enforcement data and that reporting practices vary by jurisdiction.
Garza highlighted several findings lawmakers should weigh in policy decisions: reported hate-crime events were described as remaining at historically elevated levels despite a modest 3.4% decline from the prior year; race and ethnicity remain the largest bias category; anti-Black incidents rose to 508 reported events in 2025; and hate motivated by citizenship or immigration status more than doubled, according to the presentation. The report also flagged a more than 30% increase in reported incidents motivated by anti-Hispanic and anti-Latino bias.
Garza urged the Legislature to treat the report as a starting point for targeted responses — improving reporting, training, victim services, and partnerships — while acknowledging that the data do not establish causation for trends observed. “It doesn't tell us why,” she said, noting that causal conclusions require research beyond the annual report.
“The data should be understood as indicators of reported criminal activity rather than a comprehensive measure of hate in our states,” Garza told the Select Committee on Hate, Racism, and Xenophobia. She emphasized that the report relies on locally submitted law-enforcement data and that reporting practices vary by jurisdiction.
Garza highlighted several findings lawmakers should weigh in policy decisions: reported hate-crime events were described as remaining at historically elevated levels despite a modest 3.4% decline from the prior year; race and ethnicity remain the largest bias category; anti-Black incidents rose to 508 reported events in 2025; and hate motivated by citizenship or immigration status more than doubled, according to the presentation. The report also flagged a more than 30% increase in reported incidents motivated by anti-Hispanic and anti-Latino bias.
Garza urged the Legislature to treat the report as a starting point for targeted responses — improving reporting, training, victim services, and partnerships — while acknowledging that the data do not establish causation for trends observed. “It doesn't tell us why,” she said, noting that causal conclusions require research beyond the annual report.
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