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"Preventing Hate and Keeping You Up to Date"
November 2023
The Hate Crimes Training and Technical Assistance Program Newsletter Preventing Hate and Keeping You Up to Date is a monthly summary of research, articles, site highlights, and more. This publication is provided for program awardees' and project partners' information and awareness. Please contact info@hatecrimestta.org to submit a success story or resource for consideration in the newsletter.
Program Highlight
The Hate Crimes Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) Program is hosting a virtual forum on November 15, 2023, at 3:00 p.m., ET, open to all hate crimes grantee project sites and their partners.
The forum, Effective and Respectful Communication with Genderqueer and LGBTQ+ Youth, will feature Dr. April Gould, educating participants on genderqueer and LGBTQ+ youth by defining and providing real-world examples of appropriate terminology and key statistics. Dr. Gould will also discuss strategies for communicating respectfully and effectively with LGBTQ+ and genderqueer folks.
To register for this event, please visit: Event Registration – Virtual Forum: Effective and Respectful Communication with Genderqueer and LGBTQ+ Youth.
General News
FBI Releases 2022 Hate Crime Statistics
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Uniform Crime Report was released in October and included statistics on hate crimes nationwide. In fiscal year (FY) 2022, there was nearly a 7 percent increase in incidents with 11,634 single bias cases, which focused on one category of bias, and involved 13,337 victims as well as 346 incidents, which involved more than one category of bias and targeted 433 people. The reports were submitted by 14,631 law enforcement agencies and provide information about the offenses, victims, offenders, and locations of hate crimes.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division hosted a virtual forum on November 1 to highlight the successful launch of the United Against Hate initiative in all 94 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and discuss ongoing efforts to combat hate crimes. The event featured speakers and panelists from several hate crime grantee sites including Houston, Texas, Police Department Officer Jamie Byrd-Grant, daughter of James Byrd, Jr., and Co-Director Pardeep Kaleka of Not In Our Town.
Bluffton One of First to Pass Hate Crime Law in SC. How Will It Affect Local Policing?
Bluffton, South Carolina, the fastest growing town in the state, adopted a hate intimidation ordinance. It is one of four municipalities in the state, including Charleston, Greenville, and Columbia, to adopt local ordinances. South Carolina is one of three states in the country, including Wyoming and Arkansas, that do not have a statewide hate crimes law. The ordinance adds an additional offense when “race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental disability, or national origin of any person” is believed to have motivated a “primary charge,” such as assault or vandalism.
Montgomery County to Give Nearly $1M to Non-Profits Experiencing Hate Crimes
Montgomery County, Maryland, is offering nearly a million dollars in security funding to help protect nonprofits at risk of hate crimes, which includes $1,000 or more the county hopes to give out immediately.
Site Highlights
Westchester Hate Crimes Training Draws Police, Prosecutors from Near and Far
The Hate Crimes Unit at the Westchester County, New York, Office of the District Attorney hosted training for law enforcement personnel and prosecutors in early October 2023. Participants included representatives from neighboring counties in New York and attendees from Georgia and Florida. Westchester District Attorney Miriam Rocah created the county’s Hate Crimes Task Force in 2021, which has investigated 120 hate crimes and prosecuted 67 of them. It was also instrumental in the creation of the Law Enforcement Reporting Portal, where local and state law enforcement agencies can report and share information on hate crimes.
Broward State Attorney Speaks to Parkland Residents, Addresses Local Hate Crimes
Broward County, Florida, State Attorney Harold Pryor recently spoke at the Parkland City Commission meeting to inform local leaders and the public about efforts to fight hate crime in the county. The Broward County State Attorney’s Office established a Hate Crimes Unit and a Hate Crime Hotline for local residents to call if they witness bias incidents or crimes.
Karhlton Moore (left), Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, and Nancy La Vigne (second from right), Director of the National Institute of Justice, sat on a panel at Reconciling the Past, Building the Future: Law Enforcement and Community Partnerships Against Hate.
Department of Justice officials joined leaders and community partners from Maryland to announce new federal grants to combat hate crimes across the country and highlight Maryland as a national model in addressing hate crime. With the highest number of hate crimes ever reported to the Federal Bureau of Investigations in 2022, the Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) awarded more than $38 million in grants in Fiscal Year 2023 to address the past and present impact of these crimes. The awards include more than $17 million to the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Program, $8 million to Community-based Approaches to Prevent and Address Hate Crimes grants, and $1.5 million to BJA’s Emmett Till Cold Case Investigations and Prosecution Program.
Special Interest
The U.S. Attorney from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and WHYY debuted “Repairing the World: Stories from the Tree of Life” five years after the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in United States history. The documentary shares the story of the powerful community response to the attack, including law enforcement, prosecutors, and the community.
This article analyzes Oregon’s hate crime statute and takes a broad-brush look at state hate crime laws across the country. Oregon passed its latest bias crime bill in 2019, which protects race, color, religion, general identity, sexual orientation, disability, or national origin. The law protects a person from “physical injury” or “threats of serious physical injury” or “substantial damage” to property but does not cover making racist remarks or threats of harm, critics say.
Hate Crimes Cost Americans $560M a Year, and That Number Is Rising
A study by the Bard Center for the Study of Hate found that hate crimes cost Americans $560 million a year, and that number is growing. The study used data from the FBI’s National Incident-Based Reporting System and the National Crime Victimization Study from 2019, adjusted for inflation, to estimate the frequency and characteristics of hate crimes and the annual direct and indirect costs associated with categories of crimes against persons or property. Among the tangible costs measured were property damage, medical care, mental health care, victim services, and productivity. The intangible cost in the study was quality of life, including pain, suffering, fear, and costs associated with reduced quality of life.
Preventing Youth Hate Crimes & Identity-Based Bullying Initiative
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention hosted its second Youth Hate Crimes and Identity-Based Bullying Prevention Virtual Symposium in October. Topics included research and trends on identity-based bullying, youth hate crimes, and hate groups; understanding the nexus of hate and targeted violence; equipping communities to support vulnerable populations with strategies and tools; and examining online activities including preventing cyberbullying, extremist, radicalization and cyberhate. PowerPoints from the two-day symposium are accessible on the OJJDP website.
This project was supported by Grant No. 15PBJA-21-GK-02977-HATE awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Office for Victims of Crime, and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART).
Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
