For purposes of this title, and for purposes of all other state law unless an explicit provision of law or the context clearly requires a different meaning, the following shall apply:

(a)“Hate crime” means a criminal act committed, in whole or in part, because of one or more of the following actual or perceived characteristics of the victim:

(1)Disability.

(2)Gender.

(3)Nationality.

(4)Race or ethnicity.

(5)Religion.

(6)Sexual orientation.

(7)Association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics.

(b)“Hate crime” includes, but is not limited to, a violation of Section 422.6.

(c)“Subject matter experts” includes, but is not limited to, representatives of communities most victimized by hate crimes, academic experts, and law enforcement agencies.

(a)Each state and local law enforcement agency shall adopt a hate crimes policy that shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(1)The definitions in Sections 422.55 and 422.56.

(2)The content of the model policy framework that the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training developed in 2019 pursuant to Section 13519.6, and any content that the commission has revised or added or may revise or add in the future, including, but not limited to, any policy, definitions, response and reporting responsibilities, training resources, and planning and prevention methods.

(3)(A)Information regarding bias motivation.

(B)For the purposes of this paragraph, “bias motivation” is a preexisting negative attitude toward actual or perceived characteristics referenced in Section 422.55. Depending on the circumstances of each case, bias motivation may include, but is not limited to, hatred, animosity, discriminatory selection of victims, resentment, revulsion, contempt, unreasonable fear, paranoia, callousness, thrill-seeking, desire for social dominance, desire for social bonding with those of one’s “own kind,” or a perception of the vulnerability of the victim due to the victim being perceived as being weak, worthless, or fair game because of a protected characteristic, including, but not limited to, disability or gender.

(C)(i)In recognizing suspected disability-bias hate crimes, the policy shall instruct officers to consider whether there is any indication that the perpetrator was motivated by hostility or other bias, occasioned by factors such as, but not limited to, dislike of persons who arouse fear or guilt, a perception that persons with disabilities are inferior and therefore “deserving victims,” a fear of persons whose visible traits are perceived as being disturbing to others, or resentment of those who need, demand, or receive alternative educational, physical, or social accommodations.

(ii)In recognizing suspected disability-bias hate crimes, the policy also shall instruct officers to consider whether there is any indication that the perpetrator perceived the victim to be vulnerable and, if so, if this perception is grounded, in whole or in part, in antidisability bias. This includes, but is not limited to, if a perpetrator targets a person with a particular perceived disability while avoiding other vulnerable-appearing persons such as inebriated persons or persons with perceived disabilities different than those of the victim, those circumstances could be evidence that the perpetrator’s motivations included bias against persons with the perceived disability of the victim.

(D)In recognizing suspected religion-bias hate crimes, the policy shall instruct officers to consider whether there were targeted attacks on, or biased references to, symbols of importance to a particular religion or articles considered of spiritual significance in a particular religion. Examples of religions and such symbols and articles include, but are not limited to:

(i)In Buddhism, statutes of the Buddha.

(ii)In Christianity, crosses.

(iii)In Hinduism, forehead markings, known as bindis and tilaks, Aum/Om symbols, and images of deities known as murtis.

(iv)In Islam, hijabs.

(v)In Judaism, Stars of David, menorahs, and yarmulke.

(vi)In Sikhism, turbans, head coverings, and unshorn hair, including beards.

(E)In recognizing suspected hate crimes committed against a victim or victims with a particular known, evident, or perceived protected characteristic, the policy shall instruct officers to consider whether the crimes occurred on a day of actual or perceived significance to, or concerning, the victim or victims or to persons of the same actual or perceived protected characteristic as the victim or victims. Examples of such days may include, but are not limited to, Lunar New Year, Cinco de Mayo, Easter, Martin Luther King Day, and Yom Kippur.

(F)In recognizing any multiple suspected hate crimes, the policy shall instruct officers to consider whether the victim or victims of the crimes were one or more persons or properties with a particular actual or perceived protected characteristic when other, at least equally available and vulnerable potential victims were not targeted. Examples of such discriminatory selection may include, but are not limited to, the following:

(i)A series of sexual assaults of women and girls.

(ii)A series of crimes against actual or perceived transgender women, against actual or perceived noncitizens of the United States, or against persons demonstrating on behalf of a particular race or ethnicity and any observers or bystanders.

(iii)A series of attacks on one or more places of worship of a particular religion.

(iv)A series of attacks on one or more businesses, community centers, or other gathering places operated, staffed, or frequented by a person or persons with a particular known, evident, or perceived protected characteristic.

(G)In recognizing any suspected hate crime, the policy shall instruct officers to consider whether the victim is either of the following:

(i)A person with an actual or perceived disability that is known or evident to the perpetrator.

(ii)A person with any other actual or perceived protected characteristic that is known or evident to the perpetrator and that, under the existing facts and circumstances, is likely to make the victim the target of a hate crime.

(H)In recognizing a suspected anti-immigrant or antirace hate crime, the policy shall instruct officers to consider whether persons who are part of the victim’s community in the victim’s actual or perceived country of origin are commonly subject to hate or other bias there because of one or more of the protected characteristics and whether the perpetrator may have been motivated by such bias.

(I)In any case described in subparagraphs (C) through (H) or a similar case, and in every case in which a crime victim or witness believes that the crime was a hate crime or motivated by bias against an actual or perceived protected characteristic, the policy shall instruct officers to include such statements in any report generated as a result of the incident. The policy shall instruct officers to not argue with a victim or witness who believes it was a hate crime, regardless of the initial opinion of the officer. The policy shall instruct supervising officers who review reports of incidents in which the victim believed the crime was a hate crime to carefully consider whether additional investigation is necessary, consistent with this section.

(4)Information regarding the general underreporting of hate crimes to, and by, law enforcement and the more extreme underreporting of antidisability, antigender, and a plan for the agency to remedy this underreporting.

(5)A protocol for reporting suspected hate crimes to the Department of Justice pursuant to Section 13023.

(6)A checklist of first responder responsibilities, including, but not limited to, being sensitive to effects of the crime on the victim, determining whether any additional resources are needed on the scene to assist the victim or whether to refer the victim to appropriate community and legal services, and giving the victims and any interested persons the agency’s hate crimes brochure, as required by Section 422.92.

(7)A specific procedure for transmitting and periodically retransmitting the policy and any related orders to all officers, including a simple and immediate way for officers to access the policy in the field when needed.

(8)The title or titles of the officer or officers responsible for ensuring that the department has a hate crime brochure as required by Section 422.92 and ensuring that all officers are trained to distribute the brochure to all suspected hate crime victims, regardless of whether they specifically request it, and to all other interested persons upon request.

(9)A requirement that all officers be familiar with the policy and carry out the policy at all times unless directed by the chief, sheriff, director, or other chief executive of the law enforcement agency or other command-level officer to whom the chief executive officer formally delegates this responsibility.

(10)A supplemental suspected hate crime report form providing the information necessary for the law enforcement agency or the prosecution agency to determine whether a hate crime has occurred or whether to conduct a further investigation to make that determination, and an instruction that responding officers complete the form when the officers have a reasonable belief based upon the available evidence and information, including the circumstances in subparagraphs (C) through (H) of paragraph (3), that a hate crime may have been committed.

(11)A schedule for providing the hate crime training, including, but not limited to, that required by Section 13519.6 and any other hate crime training certified by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training that the law enforcement agency selects.

(12)A requirement that, when an officer suspects multimission criminal extremism, they report it to their agency’s terrorism liaison officers.

(13)In adopting a hate crimes policy, each state and local law enforcement agency shall seek to incorporate examples of terminology that is specific to the communities they serve. For example, given the nationwide surge of anti-Asian American and Pacific Islander hate crimes beginning in 2020 and resulting from rhetoric blaming China for COVID-19, agencies that serve Asian American and Pacific Islander communities may include terminology and slurs relating to the coronavirus as part of a hate crime investigation.

(b)(1)A law enforcement agency shall be deemed in compliance with subdivision (a) if it does all of the following:

(A)Adopts, by no later than July 1, 2023, a policy including, but not limited to, all the provisions of the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training existing model hate crime policy framework including the supplemental suspected hate crime report form, called the “hate crime checklist.”

(B)By no later than April 1, 2026, updates its policy to conform to the commission’s 2025 update of the model policy framework.

(C)Updates its policy within six months after each time the commission updates the model policy framework or, if the agency has a regular policy review cycle, during the next policy review cycle.

(2)Any law enforcement agency that updates an existing hate crimes policy or adopts a new hate crimes policy may include any of the provisions of a model hate crime policy and other relevant documents developed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police that are relevant to California and consistent with state law.

(c)This section is intended to establish statewide minimum practices, and shall not be construed to restrict a law enforcement agency from implementing more precise or more stringent policies.

Except as other provisions of state or federal law require:

(a)Every law enforcement agency and each state and local agency shall use the definition of “hate crime” set forth in subdivision (a) of Section 422.55 exclusively.

(b)Every law enforcement agency and each state and local agency shall use the terms “characteristics” or “protected characteristics” as defined in Section 422.55 exclusively and shall not use misleading terms such as “protected classes” or “protected groups.”