Hate crime spikes in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, July 25 (UPI) -- Los Angeles recorded a 28 percent rise in hate crimes in 2007, largely resulting from hostilities between Latinos and blacks, officials said.

The Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission said in its annual report there were 763 hate crimes last year. The largest categories of hate crimes were assault and vandalism -- and the largest number involved Latino suspects targeting black victims, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

The second largest number of hate crimes involved black suspects and Latino victims, the report said.

There was a slight decrease in the number of reported hate crimes against immigrants and a slight reduction in attacks on Muslims. The largest number of hate crimes based on religious difference was targeted at Jews, the newspaper said.