NCJ Number
209993
Date Published
July 2000
Length
21 pages
Annotation
After describing the project entitled "Improving the Quality and Accuracy of Bias Crime Statistics Nationally," this executive summary reviews the national hate-crime trends, summarizes the results of a national survey of law enforcement officer attitudes about hate crime, and suggests how to improve hate-crime reporting and the interpretation of the data currently available.
Abstract
Given the history of hate-crime (bias crime) reporting in the United States and the problems that have developed during the first few years of data collection, the project entitled Improving the Quality and Accuracy of Bias Crime Statistics Nationally sought to obtain information from several sources in an effort to understand what impedes or supports hate-crime reporting. Additionally, the project aimed to identify areas where criminal justice professionals could augment or enhance their participation in this process, so as not only to improve the data but also improve police/victim relations. To do this, the research team used data from several sources, including a mail survey of a stratified probability sample of law enforcement agencies across the country, telephone surveys of training academies, telephone surveys of representatives from advocacy groups, and additional interviews with law enforcement representatives. This paper summarizes the compilation of data from each source. Based on an analysis of these data, researchers concluded that improving the national documentation of hate crimes requires a broad-based strategy that addresses four areas: building trust between members of the minority community and their local police, improving law enforcement's ability to respond to victims who do come forward to report hate crimes, making the national data more "user friendly" for local law enforcement purposes, and using supplemental data to shed light on the level of unreported hate crimes and promote community collaborations. 1 figure and 35 references