Hate Crime Statistics

(2006)

From the FBI Uniform Crime Report

Definition

A hate crime, also known as a bias 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 a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin.

Background

In response to mounting national concern over crimes motivated by bias, Congress enacted the Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990. The law directed the Attorney General to collect data “about crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, or ethnicity.” The Attorney General delegated the responsibility for developing and implementing a hate crime data collection program to the Director of the FBI, who assigned the task to the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program. In September 1994, Congress passed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which amended the Hate Crime Statistics Act to include both physical and mental disabilities. The UCR Program began collecting statistics on offenses motivated by bias against physical and mental disabilities in January 1997. The Church Arson Act of 1996 mandated that hate crime data collection become a permanent part of the UCR Program.

Bias-motivated Offenses

Those who developed the guidelines for hate crime data collection recognized that hate crimes are not separate, distinct crimes; instead, they are traditional offenses motivated by the offender’s bias. After much consideration, the developers decided that hate crime data could be derived by capturing the additional element of bias in those offenses already being reported to the UCR Program. Attaching the collection of hate crime statistics to the established UCR data collection procedures, they concluded, would fulfill the directives of the Hate Crime Statistics Act without placing an undue additional reporting burden on law enforcement and, in time, would develop a substantial body of data about the nature and frequency of bias crimes occurring throughout the Nation. As a result, the law enforcement agencies that participate in the national hate crime program collect details about an offender’s bias motivation associated with the following offense types: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, aggravated assault, simple assault, intimidation, robbery, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, and destruction/damage/vandalism of property. The law enforcement agencies participating in the National Incident-Based Reporting System also collect data on additional bias-motivated crimes against persons or crimes against property (e.g., fraud) and publishes these crimes as Other.

 

Participation

Law enforcement’s support

Law enforcement’s support and participation have been the most vital factors in moving the hate crime data collection effort from concept to reality. The International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Sheriffs’ Association, the former UCR Data Providers Advisory Policy Board (which is now part of the Criminal Justice Information Services Advisory Policy Board), the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training, and the Association of State UCR Programs all have endorsed the UCR Program’s hate crime program. In addition to this support, thousands of law enforcement agencies nationwide make crucial contributions to the Program’s success as the officers within these agencies investigate offenses and report as known hate crimes those they determine were motivated by biases.

Agencies contributing data

Agencies that participated in the hate crime program in 2006 represented over 255 million inhabitants, or 85.2 percent of the Nation’s population, and their jurisdictions covered 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Outlying Areas (Guam).

 

Law Enforcement Reports

The national UCR Program views each hate crime as an incident, which may have multiple offenses, victims, and offenders. When aggregating the number of hate crime offenses committed against individuals, the UCR Program counts one offense for each victim. The offense types of murder, forcible rape, aggravated assault, simple assault, and intimidation are crimes against persons. When counting crimes against property, the UCR Program allots one offense for each distinct incident regardless of the number of victims. Robbery, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, and destruction/damage/vandalism comprise the offense types that the Program considers crimes against property .

Reporting agencies identified 7,330 known offenders in 7,722 bias-motivated incidents in 2006. In the Uniform Crime Reporting Program, the term known offender does not imply that the suspect’s identity is known. The term indicates that some aspect of the suspect was identified, thus distinguishing the suspect from an unknown offender. Law enforcement agencies specify the number of offenders and, when possible, the race of the offender or offenders as a group.

Known Offender's Race, 2006

Total
7,330
White
4,293
Black
1,513
American Indian/Alaskan Native
75
Asian/Pacific Islander
84
Multiple Races, Group1
421
Unknown Race
944

1 The term multiple races, group is used to describe a group of offenders comprised of individuals of varying races.

 

Incidents

The great majority of hate crime incidents involve a single bias, although the hate crime program accepts reports of multiple-bias incidents. By definition, a multiple-bias incident is one in which two or more offense types were motivated by two or more bias types. Of the 7,649 incidents reported by law enforcement agencies in 2004, 7 were multiple-bias incidents.

Law enforcement investigators found that racial prejudice motivated more than half of all the reported single-bias incidents (52.9 percent). They attributed 18.0 percent of the incidents to a religious bias, 15.7 percent to a sexual-orientation bias, and 12.7 percent to an ethnicity/national origin bias. The remaining incidents were ascribed to a disability bias.

Single-Bias Incidents

An analysis of the 7,720 single-bias incidents reported in 2006 reveals the following:

  • 51.8 percent were racially motivated.
  • 18.9 percent were motivated by religious bias.
  • 15.5 percent resulted from sexual-orientation bias.
  • 12.7 percent stemmed from ethnicity/national origin bias.
  • 1.0 percent were prompted by disability bias.

 

Offenses by Bias Motivation within Incidents

Of the 9,076 single-bias hate crime offenses reported in the above incidents:

  • 52.2 percent were motivated by racial bias.
  • 17.6 percent resulted from religious bias.
  • 15.6 percent were motivated by sexual-orientation bias.
  • 13.6 percent were motivated by ethnicity or national origin bias.
  • 1.0 percent were the consequences of biases against disability.

Racial bias

In 2006, law enforcement agencies reported that 4,737 single-bias hate crime offenses were racially motivated. Of these offenses:

  • 66.2 percent were motivated by anti-black bias.
  • 21.3 percent were motivated by anti-white bias.
  • 6.1 percent were driven by bias against groups of individuals consisting of more than one race (anti-multiple races, group).
  • 4.9 percent resulted from anti-Asian/Pacific Islander bias.
  • 1.5 percent were motivated by anti-American Indian/Alaskan Native bias.

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,597 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

  • 64.3 percent were anti-Jewish.
  • 12.0 percent were anti-Islamic.
  • 8.8 percent were anti-other religion.
  • 5.5 percent were anti-multiple religions, (i.e., groups of individuals of varying religions).
  • 5.1 percent were anti-Catholic.
  • 3.9 percent were anti-Protestant.
  • 0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism.

Sexual-orientation bias

In 2006, law enforcement agencies reported 1,415 hate crime offenses based on sexual- orientation bias. Of these offenses:

  • 62.3 percent were classified as anti-male homosexual biased.
  • 20.7 percent were classified as anti-homosexual biased.
  • 13.6 percent were classified as anti-female homosexual biased.
  • 2.0 percent were classified as anti-heterosexual biased.
  • 1.5 percent were classified as anti-bisexual biased.

Ethnicity/national origin bias

Of the single-bias incidents, 1,233 offenses were committed based on the perceived ethnicity or national origin of the victim. Of these offenses:

  • 62.4 percent were anti-Hispanic biased.
  • 37.6 percent were anti-other ethnicity/national origin biased.

Disability bias

  • There were 94 reported hate crime offenses committed based on disability bias.
  • 74 offenses were classified as anti-mental disability.
  • 20 offenses were classified as anti-physical disability.

Offenses

Offenses by Crime Category

Among the 9,080 hate crime offenses reported:

  • 60.0 percent were crimes against persons.
  • 39.6 percent were crimes against property.
  • Approximately 0.4 percent were crimes against society.

Crimes against persons

Law enforcement reported 5,449 hate crime offenses as crimes against persons. By offense type:

  • 46.0 percent were intimidation.
  • 31.9 percent were simple assaults.
  • 21.6 percent were aggravated assaults.
  • 0.2 percent consisted of 3 murders and 6 forcible rapes.
  • 0.3 percent involved the offense category other, which is collected only in the National Incident-Based Reporting System.

Crimes against property

  • The majority of the 3,593 crimes against property (81.0 percent) were acts of destruction/damage/vandalism.
  • The remaining 19.0 percent of crimes against property consisted of robbery, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, and other crimes.

Crimes against society

Thirty-eight offenses were crimes against society (e.g., drug or narcotic offenses or prostitution).

 

Victims

In the Uniform Crime Reporting Program, the victim of a hate crime may be an individual, a business, an institution, or society as a whole. Nationwide in 2006, law enforcement agencies reported that there were 9,652 victims of hate crimes. Of these victims, ten were victimized in two separate multiple-bias incidents.

 

By Bias Motivation

An analysis of data for victims of single-bias hate crime incidents showed that:

  • 52.1 percent of the victims were targeted because of the offender’s bias against a race.
  • 18.1 percent were victimized because of a bias against a religious belief.
  • 15.3 percent were targeted because of a bias against a particular sexual orientation.
  • 13.5 percent were victimized because of a bias against an ethnicity/national origin.
  • 1.0 percent were targeted because of a bias against a disability.

 

Racial bias

Among the single-bias hate crime incidents in 2006, there were 5,020 victims of racially motivated hate crime.

  • 66.4 percent were victims of an offender’s anti-black bias.
  • 21.0 percent were victims of an anti-white bias.
  • 4.8 percent were victims of an anti-Asian/Pacific Islander bias.
  • 1.5 percent were victims of an anti-American Indian/Alaskan Native bias.
  • 6.4 percent were victims of a bias against a group of individuals in which more than one race was represented (anti-multiple races, group).

Religious bias

Of the 1,750 victims of an anti-religion hate crime:

  • 65.4 percent were victims of an offender’s anti-Jewish bias.
  • 11.9 percent were victims of an anti-Islamic bias.
  • 4.9 percent were victims of an anti-Catholic bias.
  • 3.7 percent were victims of an anti-Protestant bias.
  • 0.5 percent were victims of an anti-Atheist/Agnostic bias.
  • 8.4 percent were victims of a bias against other religions (anti-other religion).
  • 5.3 percent were victims of a bias against groups of individuals of varying religions (anti-multiple religions, group).

Sexual-orientation bias

In 2006, of the 1,472 victims targeted due to a sexual-orientation bias:

  • 62.0 percent were victims of an offender’s anti-male homosexual bias.
  • 20.9 percent were victims of an anti-homosexual bias.
  • 13.7 percent were victims of an anti-female homosexual bias.
  • 2.0 percent were victims of an anti-heterosexual bias.
  • 1.4 percent were victims of an anti-bisexual bias.

Ethnicity/national origin bias

Hate crimes motivated by the offender’s bias toward a particular ethnicity/national origin were directed at 1,305 victims. Of these victims:

  • 62.8 percent were targeted because of an anti-Hispanic bias.
  • 37.2 percent were victimized because of a bias against other ethnicities/national origins.

Disability bias

Of the 95 victims of a hate crime due to the offender’s bias against a disability:

  • 74 were targets of an anti-mental disability bias.
  • 21 were victims of an anti-physical disability bias.

 

By Crime Category

Of the 9,652 victims of a hate crime in 2006, 56.5 percent were victims of crimes against persons and 43.2 percent were victims of crimes against property. Less than one percent were victims of crimes against society.

By Offense Type

Crimes against persons

There were 5,449 victims of hate crimes against persons in 2006. Regarding these victims and offenses:

  • Three persons were murdered and six were forcibly raped.
  • 46.0 percent experienced intimidation.
  • 31.9 percent were victims of simple assault.
  • 21.6 percent were victims of aggravated assault.
  • Less than one percent (0.3) were victims of other types of offenses, which are collected only in the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS).

Crimes against property

In 2006, there were 4,165 hate crime victims of crimes against property. Of these:

  • 80.4 percent were victims of destruction/damage or vandalism.
  • 6.8 percent were victims of larceny-theft.
  • 4.8 percent were victims of robbery.
  • 4.2 percent were victims of burglary.
  • 1.2 percent were victims of arson.
  • 1.1 percent were victims of motor vehicle theft.
  • 1.5 percent were victims of other hate crime offenses, which are collected only in the NIBRS.

Crimes against society

Thirty-eight victims of hate crimes were victims of crimes against society.

 

Offenders

eporting agencies identified 7,330 known offenders in 7,722 bias-motivated incidents in 2006. In the Uniform Crime Reporting Program, the term known offender does not imply that the suspect’s identity is known. The term indicates that some aspect of the suspect was identified, thus distinguishing the suspect from an unknown offender. Law enforcement agencies specify the number of offenders and, when possible, the race of the offender or offenders as a group.

By Race

An analysis of available race data for the 7,330 known hate crime offenders revealed that:

  • 58.6 percent were white.
  • 20.6 percent were black.
  • 5.7 percent were groups made up of individuals of various races (multiple races, group).
  • 1.1 percent were Asian/Pacific Islander.
  • 1.0 percent of known offenders were American Indian/Alaskan Native.
  • 12.9 percent were unknown.

By Crime Category

Crimes against persons

Of the 5,770 known hate crime offenders who committed crimes against persons in 2006:

  • 36.7 percent committed simple assault.
  • 35.0 percent intimidated their victims
  • 27.8 percent committed aggravated assault.
  • 0.2 percent murdered or raped their victims.
  • 0.3 percent committed other types of offenses, which are collected only in the National Incident-Based Reporting System.

Crimes against property

A total of 1,912 known hate crime offenders committed crimes against property in 2006. Of these offenders:

  • 63.4 percent committed destruction/damage/vandalism.
  • 16.3 percent committed robbery.
  • 9.5 percent committed larceny-theft.
  • 5.9 percent committed burglary.
  • 1.6 percent committed arson.
  • 0.9 percent committed motor vehicle theft.
  • 2.5 percent committed other types of bias-motivated offenses.

Crimes against society

In 2006, 58 known offenders committed 38 crimes against society involving 38 victims. Crimes against society are collected only in the National Incident-Based Reporting System.

 

Incidents, Offenses, Victims, and Known Offenders by Bias Motivation, 2006

Bias motivation Incidents Offenses Victims1 Known offenders2
Total
7,722
9,080
9,652
7,330
Single-Bias Incidents
7,720
9,076
9,642
7,324
Race:
4,000
4,737
5,020
3,957
  Anti-White
890
1,008
1,054
1,074
  Anti-Black
2,640
3,136
3,332
2,437
  Anti-American Indian/Alaskan Native
60
72
75
72
  Anti-Asian/Pacific Islander
181
230
239
181
  Anti-Multiple Races, Group
229
291
320
193
Religion:
1,462
1,597
1,750
705
  Anti-Jewish
967
1,027
1,144
362
  Anti-Catholic
76
81
86
44
  Anti-Protestant
59
62
65
35
  Anti-Islamic
156
191
208
147
  Anti-Other Religion
124
140
147
63
  Anti-Multiple Religions, Group
73
88
92
49
  Anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.
7
8
8
5
Sexual Orientation:
1,195
1,415
1,472
1,380
  Anti-Male Homosexual
747
881
913
914
  Anti-Female Homosexual
163
192
202
154
  Anti-Homosexual
238
293
307
268
  Anti-Heterosexual
26
28
29
26
  Anti-Bisexual
21
21
21
18
Ethnicity/National Origin:
984
1,233
1,305
1,209
  Anti-Hispanic
576
770
819
802
  Anti-Other Ethnicity/National Origin
408
463
486
407
Disability:
79
94
95
73
  Anti-Physical
17
20
21
17
  Anti-Mental
62
74
74
56
Multiple-Bias Incidents3
2
4
10
6

1 The term victim may refer to a person, business, institution, or society as a whole.

2 The term known offender does not imply that the identity of the suspect is known, but only that an attribute of the suspect has been identified, which distinguishes him/her from an unknown offender.

3 In a multiple-bias incident, two conditions must be met: (a) more than one offense type must occur in the incident and (b) at least two offense types must be motivated by different biases.

Incidents, Offenses, Victims, and Known Offenders by Offense Type, 2006

Offense type Incidents1 Offenses Victims2 Known offenders3
Total
7,722
9,080
9,652
7,330
Crimes against persons:
4,378
5,449
5,449
5,770
  Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter
3
3
3
3
  Forcible rape
6
6
6
8
  Aggravated assault
860
1,178
1,178
1,606
  Simple assault
1,447
1,737
1,737
2,116
  Intimidation
2,046
2,508
2,508
2,018
  Other4
16
17
17
18
Crimes against property:
3,593
3,593
4,165
1,912
  Robbery
142
142
200
311
  Burglary
155
155
177
112
  Larceny-theft
261
261
283
182
  Motor vehicle theft
25
25
44
17
  Arson
41
41
51
30
  Destruction/damage/vandalism
2,911
2,911
3,348
1,212
  Other4
58
58
62
48
Crimes against society4
38
38
38
58

1 The actual number of incidents is 7,722. However, the column figures will not add to the total because incidents may include more than one offense type, and these are counted in each appropriate offense type category.

2 The term victim may refer to a person, business, institution, or society as a whole.

3 The term known offender does not imply that the identity of the suspect is known, but only that an attribute of the suspect has been identified, which distinguishes him/her from an unknown offender. The actual number of known offenders is 7,330. However, the column figures will not add to the total because some offenders are responsible for more than one offense type, and they are, therefore, counted more than once in this table.

4 Includes additional offenses collected in the NIBRS.

Agency Hate Crime Reporting by State, 2006

Participating state # of participating agencies Population covered Agencies submitting reports Total # of incidents reported
Total
12,620
255,086,543
2,105
7,722
Alabama
42
693,540
1
1
Alaska
2
284,014
1
6
Arizona
80
5,889,288
24
149
Arkansas
257
2,739,473
42
113
California
728
36,457,549
250
1,297
Colorado
220
4,724,991
45
138
Connecticut
99
3,504,130
51
131
Delaware
53
853,476
17
48
District of Columbia
2
581,530
2
57
Florida
491
18,045,007
91
216
Georgia
61
1,145,950
4
13
Idaho
105
1,460,666
12
23
Illinois
66
5,264,133
49
187
Indiana
124
2,796,935
15
39
Iowa
223
2,929,952
15
28
Kansas
359
2,135,498
49
109
Kentucky
320
3,731,141
28
64
Louisiana
108
2,291,563
13
22
Maine
148
1,321,574
31
59
Maryland
153
5,615,727
34
212
Massachusetts
328
6,040,017
85
379
Michigan
598
9,981,189
185
653
Minnesota
289
4,306,199
53
137
Mississippi
62
830,449
0
0
Missouri
309
3,532,150
26
78
Montana
93
923,589
14
24
Nebraska
197
1,472,246
10
56
Nevada
34
2,495,529
11
125
New Hampshire
134
987,279
20
34
New Jersey
513
8,724,560
225
759
New Mexico
46
1,220,005
5
20
New York
277
15,094,282
41
522
North Carolina
434
8,381,485
40
100
North Dakota
72
570,642
9
16
Ohio
493
8,638,061
87
300
Oklahoma
294
3,568,374
28
51
Oregon
169
3,697,193
32
141
Pennsylvania
954
11,740,668
27
97
Rhode Island
47
1,067,610
12
19
South Carolina
476
4,318,330
56
110
South Dakota
91
599,756
7
76
Tennessee
459
6,036,872
65
202
Texas
996
23,483,201
68
245
Utah
111
2,516,523
21
35
Vermont
78
612,273
10
21
Virginia
399
7,621,121
91
341
Washington
253
6,393,124
56
177
West Virginia
340
1,707,846
18
34
Wisconsin
371
5,556,506
25
84
Wyoming
62
503,327
4
5

Source: FBI