A report issued by California Attorney General Jerry Brown Thursday shows hate crimes in California dropped by more than 20 percent in 2009, highlighting a trend that was reflected in the San Gabriel Valley, authorities said.

Hate crime events in the state fell by 21.3 percent last year compared with 2008, from 1,397 to 1,100, according to the report, however Brown cautioned that hate crime remains a troubling issue in California.

"While the drop in these crimes is encouraging, hate has certainly not been banished from California," Brown said in a written statement. "The sheer total of incidents motivated by hate is a reminder of how much harder we need to work to overcome prejudice, bigotry and ignorance."

In the Los Angeles County and the San Gabriel Valley, hate crimes were also on the decline in 2009, Detective Daniel Zumer of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Hate Crime Task Force said.

"That's been the trend that hate crimes are down ... at least for the last three years, and I continue to see a downward trend," he said.

While hate crime statistics are down, "awareness is up," he added.

Los Angeles County sheriff's officials investigated 195 hate crime incidents in 2009, compared with 234 the previous year, Zumer said, amounting to 16.7 percent decrease.

Statistically 2009 was the second year in a row to show a decrease in hate crimes statewide, and California's hate crimes have declined by half since peaking in 2001, according to a statement from the Attorney General's Office.

All San Gabriel Valley sheriff's station held stable or showed a decrease in hate crimes except for the Altadena Station, which investigated two hate crimes in 2008 and 7 in 2009, Zumer said.

The Crescenta Valley Station handled six hate crimes in 2008 and five in 2009, he said, while the Temple Station investigated seven hate crimes in both years.

Pasadena police did not respond to requests for hate crime statistics.

The sheriff's Industry station investigated one hate crime in 2009, compared with three the year before.

The Walnut-Diamond Bar Station handled four hate crime investigations in 2008 and two in 2009, Zumer said, and the San Dimas Station saw six hate crimes in 2008 and two in 2009.

In the Whittier area, the Pico Rivera Station dropped from three hate crimes in 2008 to two in 2009, while the Norwalk Station saw six hate crimes both years.

Zumer said the sheriff's Hate Crimes Task Force, which was formed in 2004, now works alongside the FBI.

The report shows a 44.9 percent decline in hate crimes targeting Latinos, a 17.7 percent decline in anti-black hate crimes, a 22.1 percent decline in hate crimes targeting gays and a 13 percent drop in anti-Jewish hate crimes.

A total of 479 hate crime cases were prosecuted in 2009, according to the report. Those prosecutions resulted in 363 criminal cases being filed - 283 of them as hate crimes.

Of the 257 cases that had been adjudicated in time for the report, 131 suspects were convicted of hate crimes, and 92 were convicted of other crimes, according to the Attorney General's Office.

Data for the Attorney General's report was gathered from police and sheriff's agencies, as well as prosecutors throughout the state, officials said.