Posted By James Besser
Lax Reporting in Hate Crimes Report / James Besser in Washington
Once again, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has reported an increase in hate crimes – those crimes based on the race, ethnicity, religious, sexual orientation or disability of the victims.
And once again, Jewish groups say the numbers may significantly understate the problem, thanks to lax reporting by many states.
According to the latest FBI statistics, collected under the 1990 Hate Crime Statistics Act, there were 7,722 hate crimes committed last year – an 8 percent increase from 2005.
There were 1462 hate crimes based on the religion of the victims – and 66 percent of those were against Jews and Jewish institutions.
Among hate crime perpetrators, 59 percent were white, 21 percent black. California, New Jersey and Michigan led the nation in hate crimes; Northern states reported significantly more hate crimes than those in the South.
But that, according to hate crime monitoring groups, mostly reflects big differences in reporting.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, only 17 percent of the local law enforcement agencies that contributed data reported even a single hate crime. 5000 police departments didn’t bother to participate at all.
Other groups say reporting has been particularly lax in southern states.
ADL officials say the results show the need for more comprehensive anti-bias education, better cooperation by local enforcement agencies – and passage of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crime Prevention Act, an expanded hate crimes statute now pending in Congress.