New FBI Data Reports Increase in Hate Crimes for 2003
Feature Story by Ritu Kelotra - 11/17/2004
New FBI data shows that the number of hate crimes reported in 2003 increased slightly, from 7,462 in 2002 to 7,489 in 2003. The 7,489 hate crime incidents reported to the FBI in 2003 involved 8,715 separate offenses, 9,100 victims, and 6,934 known offenders.Since 1996, the Bureau has included a separate section summarizing hate crime data, collected under the 1990 Hate Crime Statistics Act, as part of its annual report on "Crime in the United States." (This year, Section II is at pages 65-68 of the report.)
Racial bias again represented the largest percentage of bias-motivated incidents (51.3 percent), followed by Religion Bias (17.9 percent), Sexual Orientation Bias (16.5 percent), Ethnicity Bias (13.7 percent) and Disability Bias (0.4 percent). Of the 7,489 incidents, 4,511 were crimes against persons, 3,139 were crimes against property, and the remaining 59 were crimes against society.
"Clearly these hate crime numbers do not speak for themselves," said Michael Lieberman, director of the Civil Rights Policy Planning Center at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). "Behind each of these statistics is an individual or a community targeted for violence for no other reason than race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or ethnicity. American communities have learned the hard way that failure to address bias crimes can cause an isolated incident to fester and result in widespread tension."
Anti-black bias was the most prevalent racial motivation, with 2,548 incidents (34 percent of all hate crimes), and anti-male homosexual bias was the most common sexual orientation motivation, with 783 incidents (10.5 percent of all hate crimes).
The number of reported anti-Islamic crimes decreased slightly from 155 in 2002 to 149 in 2003, a decrease of 0.4 percent. In addition, the number of hate crimes directed at individuals on the basis of their national origin or ethnicity also decreased - from 1,102 in 2002 to 1,026 in 2003.
"In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the nation witnessed a disturbing rash of irrationally attacks against Americans and others who appeared to be of Muslim, Middle Eastern, and South Asian descent," Lieberman said. "The urgent national need for both a tough law enforcement response and education and programming to confront violent bigotry has only increased over the past three years."
Anti-Semitic crimes decreased slightly from 931 in 2002 to 927 in 2003. Overall, crimes against Jews and Jewish institutions comprised 12.4 percent of all the bias-motivated crimes - and 69 percent of the religious-based crime incidents.
The number of national law enforcement agencies reporting to the FBI in 2003 decreased slightly from 12,073 to 11,909 - the fourth highest total of participating agencies in the 13-year history of the data collection effort. However, of the 11,909 that participated, only 1,967 agencies (16.5 percent) reported even a single hate crime, a slight increase from the 15.5 percent that reported incidents in 2002. Thus, 83.5 percent of all participating law enforcement agencies affirmatively reported no hate crimes.
Of the 6,934 identified hate crime offenders, whites made up the majority (4,317, or 62.3 percent); blacks were 18.5 percent; American Indian or Alaskan Native were 0.9 percent; Asian or Pacific Islander were 1.3 percent; and 10.7 percent were of unknown race. The remaining 6.3 percent were of other or multiple races.
The five states with the highest numbers of hate crime were: California (1,472 incidents, 19.7 percent of total reported incidents), New York (602, 8 percent), New Jersey (594, 7.6 percent), Michigan (427, 5.7 percent), and Massachusetts (403, 5.4 percent). These five states comprise 46.7 percent of all incidents reported in the United States.
Hawaii was, again, the only state that did not participate in reporting hate crime to the FBI. Alabama and Mississippi participated, but each affirmatively reported one (1) hate crime for 2003.
In October, leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives stripped language that would have expanded current federal hate crime protection from a defense bill. The Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act had been approved 65 to 33 in the Senate in July and 213 to 186 in the House in September.
"While the Leadership Conference recognizes that bigotry cannot be legislated out of existence, a forceful, moral response to hate crimes is required," said Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. "Congress must do everything possible to empower the federal government to assist in local hate crime prosecutions and, where appropriate, expand existing federal authority to permit a wider range of investigations and prosecutions."
Other anti-hate groups, including the ADL, also urged Congress to expand protection from hate crimes.
"After a dozen years of FBI hate crime data collection studies, it is high time to ensure that every state has a strong and inclusive hate crime statute, effective training for law enforcement authorities to address this criminal activity, and programs to address racism, prejudice, and all forms of bigotry in the schools," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL national director.
