Hate Crimes in the United States

341 Pages·2021·9.489 MB·English

by  Joseph Pelletier

SAFETY AND RISK IN SOCIETY

HATE CRIMES IN THE UNITED STATES

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SAFETY AND RISK IN SOCIETY

HATE CRIMES IN THE UNITED STATES

JOSEPH PELLETIER
EDITOR
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ISBN: 978-1-53619-360-2

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CONTENTS

Preface vii
Chapter 1 In the Name of Hate: Examining the Federal
Government’s Role in Responding to Hate Crimes 1
United States Commission on Civil Rights
Chapter 2 Federal Data on Hate Crimes in the United States 299
Nathan James
Chapter 3 Department of Justice’s Role in Investigating
and Prosecuting Hate Crimes 315
Nathan James
Index 321

PREFACE

Reports of hate crimes have been steadily increasing over the past several years,
particularly against certain groups; there were reports of 6,121 incidents in 2016 and
7,175 incidents in 2017 (a 17 percent increase). Hate crime experts are unsure if this
increase reflects a rise in hate incidents, a willingness on the part of victims to report, or
better reporting practices by law enforcement (or a combination of these factors);
regardless, these crimes have lasting and far-reaching effects for victims, their
communities, and for the nation.
Chapter 1 - This is an edited, reformatted and augmented version of Briefing before
the United States Commission on Civil Rights Held in Washington, D.C., dated
November 2019.
Chapter 2 - A relatively recent series of high-profile crimes where the offenders’
actions appeared to be motivated by their bias or animosity towards a particular race,
ethnicity, or religion might contribute to a perception that hate crimes are on the rise in
the United States. These incidents might also generate interest among policymakers about
how the federal government collects data on hate crimes committed in the United States.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) started its Hate Crime Statistics program
pursuant to the requirement in the Hate Crime Statistics Act (HSCA, P.L. 101-275) that
the Department of Justice (DOJ) collect and report data on crimes that “manifest
evidence of prejudice based on race, gender and gender identity, religion, disability,
sexual orientation, or ethnicity, including where appropriate the crimes of murder, non-
negligent manslaughter; forcible rape; aggravated assault, simple assault, intimidation;
arson; and destruction, damage or vandalism of property.” In addition to the FBI’s Hate
Crime Statistics program, DOJ also collects data on hate crime victimizations through the
Bureau of Justice Statistics’ (BJS’) National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The
NCVS measures self-reported criminal victimizations including those perceived by
victims to be motivated by an offender’s bias against them for belonging to or being
associated with a group largely identified by the characteristics outlined in the HSCA.
viii Joseph Pelletier
Scholars, advocates, and members of the media have pointed out that there is a significant
disparity between the number of hate crimes reported by the FBI each year and the
number of hate crime victimizations reported by BJS. This has led some to criticize the
hate crime data published by the FBI as an undercount of the number of hate crimes
committed in the United States each year. However, this statistics gap can be partially
explained by the different measures and methodologies utilized by the FBI and BJS to
collect these data. For example, the FBI only reports on crimes that have been reported to
the police, while BJS collects reports of criminal victimizations that may or may not meet
the statutory definition of a hate crime and may or may not have been reported to the
police. There are a number of reasons why some victims do not report their victimization
to the police, including fear of reprisal, not wanting the offender to get in trouble,
believing that police would not or could not do anything to help, and believing the crime
to be a personal issue or too trivial to report. There are also several reasons why a hate
crime that was reported to the police might not be subsequently reported to the FBI for
their Hate Crime Statistics program. Deciding whether a crime meets the statutory
definition of a hate crime requires law enforcement agencies to investigate allegations of
hate crime motivations before making a final determination. Reporting by law
enforcement agencies to the FBI might be hampered by the fact that some law
enforcement agencies do not have the training necessary to investigate potential bias-
motivated offenses effectively. In addition, differing definitions between the FBI and
state statutes as to what constitutes a hate crime generate confusion as to which standard
should be used to determine whether a hate crime occurred and should be reported. In
2021, the FBI plans to transition to the National Incident Based Reporting System
(NIBRS) and will no longer accept non-NIBRS compliant data from law enforcement
agencies. Policymakers might have an interest in how NIBRS differs from the FBI’s
current hate crime reporting program and whether full participation in NIBRS might
improve the quality and completeness of federal hate crime data. However, like the FBI’s
current crime reporting program, participation in the NIBRS program is voluntary, and
policymakers might consider steps Congress could take to promote wide-scale adoption
of NIBRS.
Chapter 3 - This is an edited, reformatted and augmented version of Congressional
Research Service Publication No. IF11312, dated September 17, 2019.