NCJ Number
226321
Date Published
2006
Length
29 pages
Annotation
This report presents information and data on hate crimes in Tennessee for 2005.
Abstract
Under Tennessee law, a hate crime is a criminal offense committed against a person, property, or society that is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender's bias against the victim's race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin. The hate crime is not a separate offense but is an element of another criminal offense due to the bias motivation for the offense. In 2005, 83 agencies in Tennessee reported 387 hate-crime offenses. Hate-crime offenses composed 0.06 percent of total Group A offenses reported to the Tennessee Incident Based Reporting System (TIBRS). Compared to the 83 agencies reporting hate crimes in 2005, 102 agencies reported such crimes in 2004, 82 agencies in 2003, and 79 agencies in 2002 (when hate crimes were first reported in Tennessee crime statistics). Anti-racial hate crime was reported by 56 agencies in 2005, and anti-religious hate crime was reported by 17 agencies. Anti-ethnicity/national origin hate crime was reported by eight agencies, and anti-sexual orientation hate crime was reported by nine agencies. Anti-disabilities hate crime was reported by five agencies in 2005. Within each of the previous categories of hate crime, the percentage of subcategories are indicated. Data on the types of offenses motivated by bias are also indicated. The agencies reporting hate crimes for 2005 and the number reported for each agency are provided. Extensive figures and tables