Brian Levin, Cal State San Bernardino professor of criminal justice and director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, testified on Aug. 30 before a California state Legislature joint committee that later approved a statewide hate crime audit proposal.
The audit was requested by Assemblymember Kansen Chu (D-Fremont), who chairs the Assembly Select Committee on Hate Crimes. The audit will gather data from three law enforcement agencies from each of the state’s 80 assembly districts, and was approved by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee.
“The measure passed unanimously on a bipartisan vote, 10-0, for the greatest victory margin I've been involved with in my entire career,” Levin said in a Facebook post following the session in the state Capitol in Sacramento. “The measure involves surveying and assessing California law enforcement responses to improve our assistance to police and victims.”
The center’s data from its latest study, and the method which it used to collect that data, was used to approve the audit proposal, Levin said.
“Hate crimes are on the rise in California and it is imperative to act now and address this trend with the best tools available,” Chu said in a statement. “With this audit, the Legislature can get a full picture of current efforts and identify opportunities to develop policy to reduce the frequency of these bias related crimes. I thank my legislative colleagues on the Select Committee, specifically Assemblymembers Jim Cooper (D- Elk Grove), Marc Levine (D- Santa Rosa), Adrin Nazarian (D- North Hollywood), Phil Ting (D- San Francisco) and Shirley Weber (D- San Diego) who joined me to make this request.”
Along with the CSUSB Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, Chu’s audit was made in collaboration with:
- The Anti-Defamation League,
- The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy California Collaboration,
- The California Association of Human Relations Organizations,
- The California Council of Churches IMPACT,
- The California State Conference of the NAACP,
- The Council on American Islamic Relations-CA,
- Equality California, and
- The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
For more information, visit Assemblymember Chu’s website. Also visit the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism website for more about its work.