Hearing on hate crimes held in Wyandanch

Dozens of residents attended the first in a series of four meetings on combating hate crimes Tuesday night.
Local officials joined residents at the Wyandanch Senior Citizen Center to learn about racially motivated hate crimes and ways to prevent them. The series of public hearings is being hosted by the Suffolk County Hate Crimes Task Force in response to the killing of Marcelo Lucero, an Ecuadorean immigrant.
Officials say 65 percent of hate crimes are conducted by 13- to 19-year-olds. County Legislator DuWayne Gregory (D-Amityville) says teens need to be educated in diversity and tolerance.
The task force hopes to file a report with legislation recommendations.