One teen has been charged with murder as a hate crime, and six others are facing assault and other charges; all have pleaded not guilty.
Since Lucero's death, several Hispanics have claimed that they were afraid to report crimes to police because of questions about their immigration statuses or that when they did report attacks nothing was done.
Suffolk County police said after the Department of Justice announcement from Washington, D.C., that their hate crime statistics were "essentially the same" as those of neighboring counties and New York City.
"We welcome the DOJ looking into these incidents, many of which had not been reported until recently," police spokesman Tim Motz said. "Any further evidence that can be garnered to convict suspected wrongdoers would be welcomed."
Police have said they are reviewing crime reports to determine if errors in categorizing hate crimes had been made.
After the Lucero killing, Suffolk County Police Department Commissioner Richard Dormer named the department's highest-ranking Hispanic officer to lead the precinct responsible for patrolling the Patchogue area, about 50 miles east of midtown Manhattan. Dormer has repeatedly said police don't ask crime victims about their immigration statuses.
Department of Justice spokesman Scot Montray said an investigation of bias crimes against Hispanics has begun and the department's Special Litigation Section is reviewing whether to begin a probe of police department "patterns and practices" in handling the complaints. A decision on whether to proceed could come within weeks.
Animosity over the influx of thousands of immigrants from Central and South America has been simmering for nearly a decade on Long Island.
In 2001, two Mexican laborers were nearly killed by two men who lured them to a warehouse in Shirley with the promise of work and then beat them with shovels and other landscaping tools. Two years later, a Mexican family's home in Farmingville was destroyed by teenagers who tossed fireworks through a window on the Fourth of July.
Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, who has been a vocal advocate for a crackdown on illegal immigration, was criticized in the aftermath of the Lucero killing for helping to create an atmosphere of intolerance. He has vehemently argued that his immigration stance was no justification for criminal activity.
Conflicting reports have emerged about Lucero's immigration status.
Prosecutors have said the teenagers admitted in statements to authorities that they hurled ethnic slurs at Lucero during the assault. The teens also are accused of accosting another Hispanic man about 30 minutes before the fatal stabbing. That victim escaped. And prosecutors say that about 18 hours earlier, two of the teens shot a pellet gun at a Hispanic.
At a community meeting in early December, several other Hispanics came forward to report they had been targeted for similar attacks.
Cesar Perales, president and general counsel of LatinoJustice, an advocacy group that requested Department of Justice intervention in Suffolk County, called Monday's announcement a good "first step."
"I can't overemphasize the importance of this," he said in a telephone interview. "This is akin to the Justice Department going into Mississippi in the civil rights era to investigate murders by the Ku Klux Klan."
He said Hispanic crime victims who have been afraid to go to authorities have instead turned to his organization.
"We know this is not a rare occurrence when a Latino is attacked," he said. "The police don't seem to understand this is motivated by race."
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