Suchergebnisse

The Hate Crime Statistics Act (HCSA) of 1990 set into motion the structure and mechanisms for identifying and collecting data on the occurrence of hate crimes in this country. In this article, the authors briefly describe the data-collection program that was developed by the FBI and others in response to the HCSA. The authors also examine the FBI's progress in implementing this program as an adjunct to the widely known Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program. Trends in law enforcement participation in the national program, along with steps being taken to improve this participation, are also examined. Also, the authors explore the future benefits that are anticipated as the UCR program shifts from a summary-based program to one that collects data on each criminal incident. Finally, the authors make general observations about hate crime in the United States based on the data currently held by the FBI.

Over the past two decades, significant efforts have established categories of crimes motivated by bias and so enhanced the quality of information about the prevalence of such crimes in the United States. As part of a national reporting system established by the Hate Crime Statistics Act, local police agencies collect information about the prevalence and characteristics of bias-crime incidents. Although the quality of this program has improved since its inception, local police face several challenges to identifying and accurately classifying bias crimes, including the ambiguity of applying legal definitions to cases, uncertainty regarding bias motivation, and infrequency of reported events to law enforcement. Drawing on information from eight case studies, the article examines how local police identify and record bias crimes through various kinds of reporting procedures and organizational structures. The article concludes with best practice recommendations for bias-crime tracking and reporting of incidents of bias crime within local police agencies.