The Brief

Hate crimes in Los Angeles County are up 18% compared to last year, with Black, Jewish and LGBTQIA+ people enduring the steepest increases, officials reported Wednesday.

Robin Toma, executive director of the L.A. County Commission on Human Relations, said the rise in reported hate crimes comes after two years of double-digit increases.

The 2022 Report on Hate Crime in Los Angeles County showed that 72% of the hate crimes reported in 2022 were violent. Meanwhile, crimes in which someone was targeted because of their race, ethnicity, or country of origin, went up 14%.

Anti-Black hate crimes rose 34%, which Toma said "is the second highest number ever reported.”

"And as we often point out, these anti-Black hate crimes are many times more than their proportion of the county population," he added.

Anti-Latino hate crimes rose 3%, and they experienced the highest rate of violence compared to other racial and ethnic groups: 93%.

There were other upward trends.

“Anti-immigrant slurs and hate crimes continued to climb, increased by 12% and reached the highest level ever reported in our county,” Toma said.

Another group seeing a rise in hate crimes was the LGBTQIA+ community: anti-gay and anti-lesbian hate crimes rose for the third year in a row, according to the report, 20% higher than last year.

“Gay men were the targets in 81% of these hate crimes,” Toma said.

Forty-four anti-transgender hate crimes were also reported, the largest number ever reported, he added.

Anti-Jewish hate crimes “skyrocketed” 59%, Toma said, “so it wasn't a surprise that we found that hate crimes with white supremacists words or symbols increased 66%, the highest level in 13 years. White supremacist hate crimes often target religious minorities, as well as racial ones.”

What drove hate in 2022

“That was a year (2022) in which there were deepening divides across the U.S. along the lines of political party, race religion, sexual orientation and gender identity,” Toma said. “And at the community level, many supporters of former president Trump continue to back policies that reflect growing intolerance and bigotry.”

He added that the Supreme Court rulings in 2022 “that were widely perceived as reversing protections for women, immigrants and religious minorities" also played a factor.

The Los Angeles City Council scandal of a secretly recorded audio tape of colleagues making racist and derogatory remarks also contributed to the increase in hate crime numbers, as did mass shootings across the country, including in Uvalde, Texas, the report found.

Toma also referenced an anti-Semitic banner hung by white supremacists on the 405 Freeway last year.

Israel-Gaza War and its effect on hate crimes

Across the U.S., the Israel-Gaza war has already resulted in an increase in anti-Semitism, anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia. But its effects are also being felt here in Los Angeles County.

Assistant Los Angeles Police Chief Blake Chow told reporters there has been a 267% increase in anti-Semitic hate crimes since the conflict escalated in the Middle East.

Anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab and anti-Muslim hate crimes are up 633% from Oct. 6 to Nov. 20, he added.

“Each one of those numbers we talk about is attached to a victim,” Chow said. “It's got families attached to it. And when those things happen to our community members, there's a profound sense of community and security that is violated.”

The South Asian community, regardless of faith background, has also been affected.

“People of all South Asian descent is being looked at and being harassed. We have received phone calls from temples, gurdwaras, and mosques of all kinds of filthy, hate-filled calls and emails that have come to our places of worship," Shakeel Syed, the executive director of the South Asian Network, said earlier this month. “It is happening and it is definitely a major concern for the community.”

Why hate persists

The AAPI Equity Alliance, a coalition of 40 community organizations, earlier this month unveiled “The State of Hate in Los Angeles,” a report looking at how acts of hate are deep rooted in Los Angeles County’s history.

Factors such as “the intensifying political climate and increased attention to brazen comments on social media by high-profile figures” has led community leaders to believe hate incidents will not “decrease any time soon,” according to the report.

Drivers of hate in Los Angeles County that the report highlights include: individual biases heightened by mass media and social media, demographic trends exacerbated by economic inequities and public reactions to major events.

Despite boasting one of the most racially diverse populations in California and being among the top two metropolitan areas with the highest rates of LGBTQIA+ residents, high incidents of hate persist in Los Angeles, the report states, because “Los Angeles remains largely racially/ethnically segregated in residential neighborhoods.”

Inglewood officials are working on a full rewrite of the city map for the first time in nearly 40 years, laying out how they want the city to grow and change for the next two decades.

Along part of Manchester Boulevard, city planners are setting up an option for developers to rebuild rows of small storefronts with a mix of homes and commercial space. On La Brea Avenue, south of Centinela Avenue, they envision the possibility of dense housing and business blocks as high as six stories.

Jerome Johnson, an Inglewood local, said he’s lived through three decades of change in the city. He recalled watching a “raggedy market” at the corner of La Brea and Centinela make way for the two-story shopping center that’s there today. He said the potential developments around the intersection could be a catch-22.

“There’s a shortage of housing,” Johnson said. “But you don’t want it to turn into New York City.”

It’s all part of the ongoing process for Inglewood’s new general plan, the foundational guide that governs things like what kind of buildings can be built where in the city and how they need to look. A draft land-use plan will go before the Inglewood City Council on Tuesday, then go into the environmental impact review process.

“This is really a historic milestone for the city,” Bernard McCrumby, Inglewood development services director, told The LA Local. 

McCrumby said planners are aiming to open up room for new housing and to revitalize some of the city’s flagging business corridors, without changing the city’s existing residential blocks or sacrificing the grocery stores, barbershops and local restaurants that make neighborhoods tick.

“The stadiums and arenas are here, they’re not going anywhere,” McCrumby said. “Now we can plan around those.”

The last time the city did a full update of its general plan was 1987, when horses were still racing at Hollywood Park and the “Showtime” Lakers were winning championships at the Forum. Edward Vincent Jr., the city’s first Black mayor, had only been in office for four years. 

The city has made intermittent updates to its planning guidelines since then — notably remapping a band of Inglewood along the Metro K line before it opened — but city documents indicate planners spent the past couple years working on a comprehensive rewrite. 

The new update to the general plan could set the city’s direction until 2050.

Planners hope to change some of the city’s commercial corridors into mixed-use zones that allow for housing and businesses alongside each other or even stacked on top of each other.

Those zones could go in place along Century Boulevard and Arbor Vitae Street as well as Manchester, Centinela and La Brea.

The rest of the update, McCrumby said, is aimed at lining the city’s zoning regulations up with state law and the city’s current reality on the ground.

City staff held several community meetings over the last year as they put together the draft and still aren’t done gathering feedback. 

The next year will see at least one more community meeting and a 45-day public review period, according to city documents. McCrumby said that, with the anchor of the land-use map in place, planners will continue to work on the rest of the general plan, targeting final City Council approval of the plan and accompanying environmental impact report next spring.

You can get all the details on the general plan at nextlevelinglewood.com and attend the City Council meeting at 2 p.m. on Tuesday to give a public comment.

We also want to know what you think of the proposed changes. Email isaiah@thelalocal.org with your questions or thoughts.

Students within the Los Angeles Unified School District showed improvements on state reading, math and science standardized tests for a third consecutive year, district authorities announced Tuesday.

Superintendent Andrés Chait revealed the preliminary results at the annual opening-of-schools address at East L.A.’s Garfield High School— his first as the district’s leader since the board appointed him to the job in June.

“ These are not just numbers on a page,” Chait said to an audience that included about 1,000 principals, administrators and district supporters. “They are the result of your passion, your persistence, your belief in what students can achieve. These are collective accomplishments.

"They reflect the dedication, skill, and commitment of our entire community,” he said.

Jai Gant-Leau, principal of Eagle Tree Continuation High School, said the “back-to-basics” focus of Chait’s speech was a welcome departure from the tone of recent opening addresses.

“We will continue to rise for the outcomes and expectations for the success of our students. That's the message I got,” Gant-Leau said. “Very different than the others where it was a lot of… bells and whistles.”

Why it matters

Student achievement, as measured by test scores, plummeted during the pandemic. Los Angeles Unified’s growth in 2025 outpaced the state, as test scores exceeded pre-pandemic levels.

This year the percentage of students in all grades who met or exceeded the standard are 39.7% for math, 48.3% for English and 32.1% for science. It’s unclear how this compares to students statewide because those results have yet to be released.

Challenges ahead

Chait also acknowledged the challenges posed by declining enrollment, community fears of immigration enforcement actions and proposed budget cuts.

 “The decisions will be hard, but we cannot lose sight of what defines us,” Chait said. “We are the system that lifts students to opportunity, turns potential into achievement, creates spaces of belonging, healing, growth.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

We hope you’ve gotten used to the hot weather, because it’s going to be here for a while.

The National Weather Service has issued yet another heat advisory for much of Southern California, less than a week after other high-temperature warnings were lifted.

This week’s advisory will be in place from 10 a.m. Wednesday through Monday. Forecasters expect temperatures to climb steadily over the course of Wednesday and Thursday.

The San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley and other inland areas in L.A., as well as Riverside and San Bernardino counties, will likely see highs ranging from the mid-90s to about 105 degrees. Areas closer to the coast, including downtown Los Angeles and much of Orange County, will hit the 90s. Beaches will hover mostly in the upper 70s.

Humidity will also add to the discomfort. Even though it’s decreasing slightly, it makes cooling down harder, especially at night.

People who work outdoors or do not have air conditioning are especially at risk from the heat and humidity, along with people over 65, young children and other sensitive populations.

Fire risk

Forecasters are warning that conditions are ripe for fires, driven by a combination of wind and dry vegetation.

Southern California hasn’t seen much rain recently, despite the humidity, leaving plants with little moisture and turning them into the perfect fuel.

“Even though the air feels kind of moist, we're in the time of season where it doesn't matter. The fuels are dry and they're ready to go,” said NWS meteorologist Ryan Kittell.

Kittel said people should take extra care with anything that could create a spark, and residents in fire-prone areas should remain aware of their surroundings in case a fire starts.

The fire risk is likely to be concentrated in a few specific areas that will experience higher winds than others, including parts of the 5 Freeway corridor in northern L.A. County, especially around the Grapevine, and in southern Santa Barbara County.

For most of the region, though, winds should stay fairly mild.

Dangerous beach conditions

Southern Californians also have to contend with some ocean-specific risks this week.

Forecasters expect dangerously large waves and strong rip currents to hit the coastline at a time when the heat may drive more people to the beach. The conditions are expected to persist through the weekend.

If you decide to head to the beach, it’s a good idea to ask a lifeguard for advice on the conditions before entering the water. It’s also recommended to swim only near occupied lifeguard stands, stay off of rock jetties and avoid turning your back to the waves.

South-facing stretches of coastline will bear the brunt of the swell, which is being driven by two tropical storms churning hundreds of miles away in the Pacific Ocean.

“Those two systems generated the winds and the waves locally that are pushing towards us, and so that's creating elevated surf and some stronger currents than normal,” Kittel said.

The swell is not expected to cause significant coastal flooding as high tides remain relatively low.