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1997-98 Academy Text Supplement

Chapter 21-1

Hate and Bias Crimes

Statistical Overview

• The Federal Bureau of Investigation reports that 8,759 hate crime incidents were reported to law enforcement agencies nationwide in 1996. The 1996 figures were compiled from more than 11,000 police agencies in 49 states (all but Hawaii) and the District of Columbia, representing 84 percent of the nation's population. This is an increase over the 1995 report, where 7,947 hate crime incidents were reported by 9,500 police agencies in 45 states representing 75 percent of the U.S. population. (Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Information Services Division."Hate Crime-1996." Uniform Crime Reports. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.)

• Law enforcement agencies reported 5,396 hate crimes based on race; 1,401 based on religion; 1,016 on sexual orientation; 940 on ethnic background; and six for multiple reasons. Of 11,000 victims of the 8,759 reported incidents of hate crimes, 7,000 were attacked because of their race, including 4,600 racially motivated attacks on blacks, 1,445 on whites, and 544 on Asians and Pacific Islanders. (Ibid.)
• In terms of incidents in 1996, 3,674 were anti-black, 1,106 were anti-white, 564 were anti-Hispanic, 1,109 were anti-Jewish, 757 were anti-gay men, and 150 were anti-gay women. (Ibid.)
• Law enforcement agencies reported 8,935 known offenders, of which 66 percent were white and 20 percent black. (Ibid.)

• Intimidation accounted for 39 percent of reported offenses; destruction of property and vandalism, 27 percent; simple assault, 16 percent; and aggravated assault, 13 percent. Twelve persons were murdered in known hate-motivated incidents in 1996. (Ibid.)
• Sixty-four percent of all anti-Semitic vandalism incidents occurring in 1994 happened in 12 northeastern states and the District of Columbia. Western states accounted for 14 percent, while southern states accounted for 11 percent of anti-Semitic vandalism. (Ibid.)
• Preliminary figures show that 7,947 hate crime incidents were reported to the FBI in 1995. The incidents were reported by more law enforcement agencies in 45 states and the District of Columbia, covering 75 percent of the U.S. population. Over 60% of the incidents were motivated by racial bias; 16 % by religious bias, 13% by sexual orientation bias, and 10% by ethnicity or national origin bias. (Federal Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Justice Information Services Division. "Hate Crime-1995." Uniform Crime Reports. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.)

• Individuals are overwhelmingly the targets of hate crimes. In 1995, individuals comprised 83% of all reported bias crime victims for the year, with businesses, religious organizations, and varied other targets accounting for the remaining 17 percent. (Ibid.)
• Among offenders reported to be associated with 62% of the hate crime incidents in 1995, whites accounted for 59 percent and African Americans for 27 percent. The remaining known offenders were of other or multi-racial groups; overall, 38% of the offenders were unknown. (Ibid.)
• Intimidation was the single most frequently reported hate crime offense, accounting for 41 percent of the total incidents reported to the FBI in 1995. Damage, destruction, or vandalism of property constituted 23 percent; simple assault, 18 percent; and aggravated assault, 13 percent. Twenty persons were murdered in known hate-motivated incidents in 1995. (Ibid.)
• Among victims of gender and anti-lesbian/gay violence, 62 percent were gay men, 30 percent were lesbians, and eight percent were either gay/lesbian institutions or unknown. The number of lesbians/ bisexual females victimized in 1994 increased 19 percent over 1993 figures, compared to only one percent for gay/bisexual male victims. (Federal Bureau of Investigation. Characteristics of Hate Crimes in 1994, Summary of Hate Crime Data Collection. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.)
• Sixty-seven percent of gay men and lesbians who declined to file a police report about their victimization perceived, or had experienced, the police to be anti-lesbian/gay; 14 percent feared police abuse; and 40 percent feared public disclosure of their sexual orientation. (Herek, G. & Berrill, K. (1992). Hate Crimes: Confronting Violence Against Lesbians and Gay Men. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publishing.)
• The number of arrest for anti-Semitic crimes reported in 1994 were double those reported in 1993. Arson and vandalism represented the anti-Semitic crimes with the most substantial increase in 1994. (1994 Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents. New York: Anti-Defamation League.)

Update on Hate and Bias Crime Projects

In spite of federal and state laws that have been enacted, there is still confusion over the definition of hate and bias crime victims. The definition of hate and bias crime in the Federal Hate Crimes Statistics Act of 1990 should provide direction to the field on what constitutes hate and bias crimes:

• The Act states that bias crimes are crimes motivated by "hatred against a victim based on his or her race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or national origin."

• In 1996, the Office for Victims of Crime and the Bureau of Justice Assistance, within the U.S. Department of Justice, supported the development of a national training and technical project that produced A Training Curriculum to Improve the Treatment of Victims of Bias Crimes by the Educational Development Center in Boston, Massachusetts. The project offers training for law enforcement and victim assistance professionals. Project materials emphasize that while bias crimes are similar to other crimes, they present unique challenges to victim-serving professionals because of the often devastating psychological impact on the victim and the victim's community. The training curriculum is available through OVC's Resource Center:

National Bias Crimes Training for Law Enforcement and Victim Assistance Professionals (Instructor) [NCJ-155130]

(Participant) [NCJ-155179]

Governmental and Policy Developments

Addressing Hate and Bias Crime

In March of 1997 the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) released a national report entitled A Policymaker's Guide to Hate Crimes. The report was in response to a request from Attorney General Janet Reno to conduct an assessment of laws and strategies designed to fight, gauge, and prevent bias-motivated offenses. Several important initiatives addressing hate and bias crimes are addressed in the report. The monograph examines the significant strides made by the federal government in creating a baseline of raw data on hate crimes and the problems that impede the reporting of hate crime incidents. In addition, the report summarizes current state laws and U.S. Supreme Court decisions regarding hate crimes. Initiatives that have been undertaken in the private sector, such as by civil rights groups, are also highlighted. Finally, the report discusses preventive measures and strategies for dealing with hate crime offenders that have been undertaken in some communities across the nation. (Bureau of Justice Assistance. (1997, March). "A Policymaker's Guide to Hate Crimes," NCJ-162304. Monograph. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.)

A summary of public policy responses to hate and bias crime was presented in the report. Legislative and public policy initiatives on the federal, state, and local levels between 1992-1997 are summarized below. According to BJA:

• As of 1995, 39 states had enacted laws that address bias-motivated violence and intimidation, many of them based on a model law developed by the Anti-Defamation League.

• Also by 1995, 19 states had statutes mandating the collection of hate crime data.

• In addition, dozens of law enforcement agencies across the nation promulgated new policies and procedures addressing hate crimes. Many of these were based on model policies developed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.

The report also summarized important initiatives that have been undertaken on the federal level. Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice have taken major steps towards combating hate crimes. For example:

• The 1992 reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act, as amended, required that each state's juvenile delinquency prevention plan include a component designed to combat hate crimes.

• The Act also required the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to conduct a national assessment of youth who commit hate crimes. As a result, OJJDP funded a national study in 1993 entitled the Juvenile Hate Crime Study. The study found that at that time only six states, and seven major cities within those states, collected offense data that specified the age of hate crime offenders. However, from the data collected, BJS estimated that 17 to 26 percent of all hate crime incidents recorded by law enforcement could be attributed to juveniles.

• OJJDP also supported the development of a school-based curriculum to address prevention and treatment of hate crimes by juveniles. The report entitled Healing the Hate: A National Crime Prevention Curriculum for Middle Schools was developed by the Educational Development Center Inc. (EDC) and released in January of 1997.

• The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), Title IV of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Assistance Act of 1994, allows victims of gender-based crimes to sue the perpetrator in either federal or state court or money damages for injunctive relief.

• In addition, in another provision of the 1994 Crime Bill, the Hate Crime Sentencing Act (HCSA), requires the U.S. Sentencing Commission to increase penalties for perpetrators of hate crimes.

• According to the report, under a proposed research project, the FBI and Northeastern University in Massachusetts will seek to develop strategies to increase the collection of hate crime statistical data by state and local law enforcement agencies.

The U.S. Department of Education has also supported key initiatives in response to hate and bias crimes. For example:

• In 1996, under the Department of Education's Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Federal Activities Grants Program, two million dollars was made available to public agencies and private nonprofit organizations for developing and implementing innovative strategies designed to prevent and reduce the incidence of hate crimes in communities.

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