San Diego crime down, but hate crimes spike 74% targeting Jews, LGBTQ community

The city reported that 44% of the hate crimes based on religious bias were anti-Semitic while 28% were anti-Christian and 28% were anti-Muslim.

By Shirleen Guerra | The Center Square

Published: May 21, 2024 11:00pm

(The Center Square) -

(The Center Square) - Hate crimes in the city of San Diego increased by 74% in 2023, with anti-LGBTQ and anti-Semitic hate crimes accounting for most incidents.

This is according to the 2023 Annual Crime Review at the May 20 city council meeting.

The number of reported hate crimes jumped from 38 in 2022 to 66 in 2023. The number of hate crimes based on sexual orientation increased from 4 in 2022 to 21 in 2023 and the number of hate crimes based on religion jumped from 4 to 18 over the same time period.

The city reported that 44% of the hate crimes based on religious bias were anti-Semitic while 28% were anti-Christian and 28% were anti-Muslim.

The city sent the same information as in the council packet and referred to a video of the meeting when asked for comment.

The city council didn't comment on plans to deal with the increase in hate crimes at the meeting.

Overall, the city saw a 2.7% decline in crime in 2023 compared to the previous year. There were 63,758 crimes against persons, property and society in 2022 and the dropped to 62,019 in 2023.

The number of homicides dropped from 62 in 2022 to 56 in 2023. The number of non-fatal shootings dropped from 200 in 2020 to 175 in 2023.