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U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report

November 2005, NCJ 209911 National Criminal Victimization Survey and Uniform Reporting Hate Crime Reported by Victims and Police By Caroline Wolf Harlow, Ph.D. Highlights BJS Statistician A majority of hate crime victims identified race as the offenders' An annual average of 210,000 hate crime victimizations occurred from July Motivation for hate crime 2000 through December 2003. During Race that period an average of 191,000 hate Association crime incidents involving one or more victims occurred annually. Victims also Ethnicity indicated that 92,000 of these hate crime victimizations were reported to Perceived characteristic police. These estimates were derived from victim reports to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) of the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Percent of hate crime incidents As defined here, an ordinary crime • Most hate described by becomes a hate crime when offenders • Approximately 44% of hate victimi- victims accompanied violent crimes – choose a victim because of some zations were reported to police. a or other sexual , characteristic — for example, race, robbery, or assault (84%). The • When the victims themselves ethnicity, or religion — and provide remaining 16% were associated with reported to police, they did so pri- evidence that hate prompted them to property crimes – burglary or theft. marily to prevent the offender from commit the crime. crime is committing further offenses (35%) another term for hate crime. Hate • Victims reported a major violent and to obtain help from the police crimes that respondents report in the crime – a rape, robbery, or an assault (33%). NCVS are based on victims’ percep- in which a victim was injured or - tions of why they became crime ened with a weapon – in a third of hate • In 41% of hate victimizations victims. incidents. reported to police, law enforcement was at the scene within 10 minutes. • In about half of hate crimes, the National data on hate crimes come victim was threatened verbally or • Per capita rates of hate crime vic- from two primary sources: assaulted without either a weapon or timization varied little by race or • NCVS — approximately 77,600 an being involved. ethnicity: about 0.9 per 1,000 whites, nationally representative persons 0.7 per 1,000 blacks, and 0.9 per • An estimated 3% of all violent crimes interviewed biannually about their 1,000 were reported to the revealed to the NCVS by victims were experiences with crime National Crime Victimization Survey. perceived to be hate crimes. • the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting • Most likely to be offenders were Program (UCR) — law enforcement • Annually from July 2000 through men (79%) and strangers (51%). agency reports to the FBI on crimes December 2003 about 22,000 house- Two-thirds of violent hate victimiza- reported to police. holds experienced they tions involved a lone offender. thought was motivated by hate or bias. This BJS report uses data from the The definition also encompasses crime Table 1. Annual number, rate, and NCVS to provide information on hate incidents in which the offender percent of hate crimes reported crimes both reported and not reported perceives the victim as belonging to or to the National Crime Victimization to police and compares some of these associated with a group largely identi- Survey findings to those reported by the FBI. fied by one of these characteristics. Victimi- Incidents zations Hate crimes committed because The NCVS definition requires that Annual number of hate based crimes of corroborating evidence of hate motiva- All hate crimes 190,840 210,430 tion must be present at the incident: Violent 156,460 176,050 The 1990 Hate Crime Statistics Act Major violent 67,290 80,060 • the offender used derogatory charged the U.S. Attorney General to Property 34,380 34,380 “acquire data... about crimes that Annual number • the offender left hate symbols, or manifest evidence of prejudice based reported to police • the police confirmed that a hate crime All hate crimes 80,760 91,630 on race, religion, sexual orientation, or had taken place. Violent 66,650 77,520 ethnicity, including, where appropriate, Major violent 39,210 47,000 the crimes of , non-negligent Property 14,110 14,110 Imputing offenders' motives is difficult. manslaughter; forcible rape; aggra- In the NCVS definition, hate or bias Rate per 1,000 vated assault, simple assault, intimida- persons/households 0.8 0.9 motivation is inferred from the words tion; ; and destruction, damage Violent 0.7 0.8 and symbols used by the offender. This Major violent 0.3 0.3 or vandalism of property.” A 1994 may or may not be an accurate way to Property 0.3 0.3 amendment added the disabled to the evaluate whether the crime was a hate list of groups to be tracked. Hate crime crime. Victims or even police officers as percent of — may misinterpret the symbols or words. All crime 0.8% 0.9% The Attorney General delegated data Violent 3.0 3.1 The NCVS provides a measure of what collection of hate crimes principally Major violent 2.6 2.8 victims describe as hate-based crimes, Property 0.2 0.2 to the FBI. They appended information but it cannot directly interpret the on bias motivation to the UCR. This Note: Crimes include rape and other sexual offenders' intent. assault, robbery, assault, larceny, and bur- program includes both the Summary glary. Vandalism is not included. Major vio- Reporting System and the National lent crime includes rape and other sexual The result is that estimates of the Incident-Based Reporting System assault, robbery, and assault either with volume and rate of hate crime from the a weapon or with injury. (NIBRS). NCVS may not be consistent with other Source: BJS, National Crime Victimization estimates, which may measure Survey, July 2000 through December 2003. In 1997 BJS and the U.S. Census incidence differently. The NCVS does Bureau, the data collection agent for ensure a stable methodology for Victims have reported an average the NCVS, developed questionnaire collecting the information over time and of 191,000 hate crime incidents items to identify victims of hate crimes. across jurisdictions. The questionnaire annually since 2000 The revised questions were fielded emphasizes corroborating information beginning in July 2000. This report from the victim about the words or Between July 2000 and December 31, analyzes data from July 2000 through symbols that can be reasonably under- 2003, an annual average of 191,000 December 2003. stood to represent offender bias. hate crime incidents were estimated from victim reports to the NCVS (table Meeting the criteria established in the Crimes reported to the NCVS — sexual 1). A hate crime incident may have Hate Crime Statistics Act, the NCVS , robbery, assault, burglary, more than one victim. Victimizations defines hate crimes as those incidents larceny, or vandalism — with evidence count one person or household in which victims believe the offender of toward any of these specific affected by a criminal incident. For selected them for a victimization groups have been classified as crimes violent crimes, the number of victimiza- because of one or more of their motivated by hate. The data for hate tions equals the number of persons personal characteristics: crimes from the NCVS include informa- involved. A crime against a household • race tion about victims, offenders, and is assumed to involve a single victimC • ethnicity characteristics of crimes — both the affected household. Annually • religion crimes reported to police and crimes 210,000 victimizations motivated by • sexual orientation not reported to police. hatred or bias occurred between July • disability. 2000 and December 31, 2003.

Approximately 3% of all violent crimes measured by the NCVS were hate crimes. About 1 in every 500 property

2 Hate Crime Reported by Victims and Police Table 2. Motivation and evidence perceive at least one of the offender’s Almost all bias crime victims cited in hate crime to be prejudice. Victim race offenders' remarks as evidence for was the primary perceived offender Percent of classifying the offense as a hate hate crime C motivation reported by victims for hate crime Inci- Victim- crimes (table 2). In half of hate crimes dents zations recorded by the NCVS, race was seen Victims of hate crimes knew the Motivation by hate crime victims as the underlying crime they experienced was hate Race 55.4% 56.0% Association 30.7 30.6 motivation. In 1 in 4 hate crimes, the related because offenders made fun Ethnicity 28.7 27.9 victim’s ethnic origin was viewed by the of them, made negative comments, Sexual orientation 18.0 17.9 victim as the motivation for the crime. used slang, hurtful words, or abusive Perceived characteristic 13.7 13.2 language. About 99% of victims Religion 12.9 12.4 Disability 11.2 10.5 Victims also revealed to the NCVS that encountered hate-related language, they perceived the motive for about 3 irrespective of the offenders' Evidence of motivation Negative comments, hurtful in 10 hate crimes was the victim’s motives. words, abusive language 98.5% 98.5% association with persons who have Percent of victims identifying Confirmation by police certain characteristics, for example, a investigation 7.9 8.4 offenders' motivation Hate symbols 7.6 7.8 multiracial couple. Asso- Eth- Evidence Race ciation nicity Note: Detail adds to more than 100% because some respondents included more than one In about 1 in 6 incidents reported Negative motivation or evidence of motivation. comments, to the NCVS, sexual orientation was hurtful words, Source: BJS, National Crime Victimization described by the victim to have been or abusive Survey, July 2000 through December 2003. the basis for the crime. language 98.7% 100% 97.4% Confirmation crimes were estimated to have been by police The victim’s religion was mentioned investigators 6.8* 15.5 9.9* motivated by hate. in about 1 in 8 hate crimes, and the Hate symbols 7.2* 15.8 8.8* victim’s disability, in about 1 in 9. *Estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample Victims perceive race as cases. the primary reason for hate crimes Over 4 in 5 NCVS hate crimes aggravated assault — than crimes not violent offenses Hate crimes are criminal offenses — associated with the characteristics of a , sexual assault, robbery, According to victim reports, hate hate crime. Approximately 84% of simple and aggravated assault, crimes were more likely to be violent — NCVS hate crimes and 23% of burglary, or theft — in which victims a sexual assault, robbery or simple or non-hate crimes were violent offenses (table 3).

Table 3. Hate and other crime victimizations, by type of crime Hate crimes were also more likely to be Percent of victimizations by crimes of — among the most serious. In 38% of Type of crime Hate Other than hate NCVS hate crimes, victims were raped, Total 100.0% 100.0% robbed, injured, or threatened with a Violent crime 83.7 22.9 weapon. Of those crime victimizations Rape/sexual assault 4.0* 1.0 not based on hate of the victim, about Robbery 5.0 2.5 Aggravated assault 18.5 4.5 12% reached this level of seriousness. With injury 5.0 1.4 Threatened with weapon 13.5 3.1 Hate crimes included a higher percent- Simple assault 56.2 15.0 With injury 10.6 3.5 age of less serious violent crimes as Without injury 17.6 5.5 well. In about 46% of hate crimes and Verbal threat 28.0 6.0 12% of non-hate based NCVS crimes, Personal larceny 0.0*% 0.7% victims were intimidated or assaulted without either an injury or having to Household crime 16.3% 76.4% Burglary 3.7* 13.3 face an offender with a weapon. Motor vehicle theft 0.3* 4.1 Theft 12.3 59.0 Victims reported that about 13% of Note: Other than hate crimes are those described by victims as not having attributes hate crime victimizations and 63% of that define hate crimes. Excluded from analysis were those crimes in which the victims crimes in which hate was not a motiva- did not know or did not answer whether they were targeted as hate victims (5.2% of all victimizations). tion involved a motor vehicle theft or *Estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample cases. the anonymous theft of property or household goods. Source: BJS, National Crime Victimization Survey, July 2000 through December 2003.

Hate Crime Reported by Victims and Police 3 44% of hate crimes reported Table 4. Reporting crimes of hate and other violent crimes to police to police Percent of victimizations by crimes of — A strength of the NCVS is the informa- Reporting to police Hate Hate Other than hate tion provided by victims on their inter- Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% actions with police after the crime. Reported 43.8% 44.1% 49.3 About 44% of hate crimes were By victim 24.3 21.7 27.8 By someone elsea 12.8 15.0 16.6 reported to police (table 4). About a Otherb 6.7 7.4 4.9 quarter of hate crimes were reported Not reported 54.5 55.4 49.5 by the victim and a tenth by someone Don't know if reported 1.7* 0.5* 1.2 else — another victim, a household Note: Other than hate crimes are those described by victims as not having attributes that define member, or an official such as a guard hate crimes. Excluded from analysis were those crimes in which the victims did not know or did not answer whether they were targeted as hate victims (5.2% of all victimizations). or school authority. *Estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample cases. aIncludes other household members and official persons (guard, apartment manager, Hate crime accompanying a violent school authority, and others with official positions). b crime and violent offenses without a Includes police at scene, police offenders, and other ways of reporting. hate component were reported to Source: BJS, National Crime Victimization Survey, July 2000 through December 2003. police at the same rate (44% of violent Victims reported that the police took crimes, the police arrested someone hate crimes and 49% of other violent action in 85% of hate crimes. In half of for the offense. crimes). The difference between hate hate crimes reported to law enforce- related (22%) and non-hate related ment, the police took a report of the Victims' self-reports indicated that (28%) violent crimes reported by the crime. In 32% of hate crimes, the police responded to a violent hate victim was not statistically significant. police questioned witnesses or motivated crime as they did to a suspects. non-hate based violent crime. In half of In approximately 7 in 10 hate crimes the reported victimizations, police took reported to police, police were either at In a third of hate crimes, the victim or a report, in about a third, they the scene or came after they were another household member signed a questioned witnesses or suspects; in called (table 5). In the remaining complaint. In about 19% of hate about a quarter, they made an arrest. victimizations, the victim went to police, the police didn’t come to the scene, or Table 5. Contacts with police for crimes of hate and other violent victimizations the police were informed some other Percent of victimizations by crimes of — way. All information came from the Violence period between the crimes' occurrence Of crimes reported to police Hate Hate Other than hate and the NCVS interview. First contact with police Police were at scene 8.6%* 10.2%* 6.1% Police came within 10 minutes 32.0 32.2 43.6 Police came to scene after 10 minutes 27.6 24.4 26.6 Police confirmed 8% of hate Police came but victim didn't know when 5.6* 6.6* 3.3 victimizations Respondent went to police 7.3* 7.0* 6.0 Police didn't come to scene 12.8 12.9 10.6 Overall, 8% of hate crime victims Police found out another way 6.1* 6.6* 3.8 reported to the NCVS that law Type of police contact enforcement determined the victimi- Any 85.0% 85.2% 85.7% zation to be bias related. According Police took report 51.3 51.8 64.0 to victims, police validated approxi- Searched/looked around 17.1 12.1 13.1 Took evidence 5.9* 5.6* 5.9 mately 1 in 5 hate crime victimiza- Questioned witnesses/suspects 32.3 35.2 33.1 tions that were reported to them as Did or promised surveillance/investigation 13.8 13.5 13.8 hate crimes. Made arrest 19.3 22.9 32.8 Recovered property 0.0* 0.0* 0.7* Hate crime victimizations Stayed in touch with victim 8.6* 9.3* 7.5 Percent of — Other 34.9 37.6 25.8 Hate Annual Reported None 15.0 14.8 14.3 crimes number All to police Total 210,430 100.0% Victim or other household 37.6% 42.1% 35.3% Reported to police 92,100 43.8 100.0% member signed complaint Confirmed by Note: Other than hate crimes are those described by victims as not having attributes that define police 17,680 8.4 19.2 hate crimes. Excluded from analysis were those crimes in which the victims did not know or did not answer whether they were targeted as hate victims (5.2% of all victimizations). The detail for type of police contact adds to more than 100% because respondents could report more than one type of contact. *Estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample cases. Source: BJS, National Crime Victimization Survey, July 2000 through December 2003.

4 Hate Crime Reported by Victims and Police In both hate and non-biased violent Table 6. Reasons victims reported crime to police, by type of crime crimes about a third of victims or other members of their household signed a Percent of victimizations by crimes of — Reasons victims Violence complaint. reported crime Hate Hate Other than hate To get offender 35.3% 38.7% 43.0% Victims who reported hate crimes To get help with this incident 32.8 37.7 32.7 to police wanted to punish the It was a crime 28.3 27.6 23.6 To let police know 23.1 25.4 13.5 offender and prevent further crimes To recover loss 9.2* 0* 6.3 Other reason 7.8* 8.0* 11.2 Victims of hate crime reported their Note: Reasons for reporting crime to police add to more than 100% because victims may have experience to police for a number of had more than one reason. Other than hate crimes are those described by victims as not having reasons. Among those who called the attributes that define hate crimes. Excluded from analysis were those crimes in which the police, about 35% said they notified victims did not know or did not answer whether they were targeted as hate victims (5.2% of all victimizations). police to get the offender, that is, to *Estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample cases. prevent the offender from committing Source: BJS, National Crime Victimization Survey, July 2000 through December 2003. further offenses, to punish the offend- er, or to catch the offender (table 6). Table 7. Reasons victims did not report crime to police, by type of crime About 33% of those reporting hate Percent of victimizations by crimes of — crime said they reported the incident Reasons victims did Violence to get help; they were trying to stop or not report crime Hate Hate Other than hate prevent the incident from happening; Dealt with another way 40.9% 43.7% 41.9% Not important enough to respondent 26.1 25.8 24.4 or they needed help because of an Police wouldn't help 13.8 12.8 8.8 injury or other problem. About 23% Police couldn't do anything 8.1 5.4* 5.2 wanted to let the police know about the Insurance wouldn't cover 0* 0* 0.1* crime to either improve police surveil- Other reason 30.2 26.4 28.7 lance or perform their civic duty. Note: Reasons for not reporting crime to police add to more than 100% because victims may have had more than one reason. Other than hate crimes are those described by victims as not having attributes that define hate crimes. Excluded are crimes for which the victims did not know Victims of a violent hate crime who or answer whether they were targeted as hate victims (5.2% of all victimizations). reported the crime to police expressed *Estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample cases. reasons similar to those of victims of Source: BJS, National Crime Victimization Survey, July 2000 through December 2003. other violent crimes C they wanted the offender to be apprehended and they sought help. 1 in 10 victims of crime helped by an agency other than the police Percent of victimizations Help from non- Violence 4 in 10 who did not report hate police agency Hate Hate Other than hate crime to police preferred to handle Some victims received help from Total 10.6% 10.2% 7.4% it another way nonpolice agencies. About 1 in 10 Government 8.4 8.4 4.8 victims of all hate crimes, victims of Private 2.2* 1.8* 2.6 No other help 89.4 89.8 92.6 Four in 10 victims who did not ensure violent hate crime, and victims of that the hate crime was reported to violent crimes not involving hate or Note: Other than hate crimes are those described by victims as not having attributes police said they didn’t report it because bias said that they received help from another government office or a private that define hate crimes. Excluded are crimes it was handled another way (table 7). for which the victims did not know or answer For example, the crime was reported to agency. whether they were targeted as hate victims (5.2% of all victimizations). another official or kept private. *Estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample A quarter said the incident was not cases. important enough to report because it was a minor crime, “kid stuff,” or it was Rates of hate crime similar across with low incomes; and those living in not clear the offender intended harm. , races, and ethnic groups urban areas did report experiencing hate crimes at higher rates. Victims who did not report violent Generally, per capita rates of hate crimes to police expressed similar crime victimization do not appear to Men and women were about equally reasons for their behavior, regardless vary based upon victim’s , race, likely to have experienced a hate or of whether the offense had hate crime ethnicity, or educational attainment. bias crime. Approximately 1.0 per characteristics. Fully 4 in 10 reported However, young people; those never 1,000 men and 0.8 per 1,000 women that they dealt with the violent crime married, separated, or divorced; those another way.

Hate Crime Reported by Victims and Police 5 indicated that they had been a victim Young people reported hate crime Motivations attributed by hate crime of a hate crime (table 8). victimization at rates higher than those victims to offenders did not vary signifi- of older persons. Those 17 or younger cantly for male and victims and There were no significant differences experienced about 1.9 hate crimes per young and old. About 1 in 6 of both in rates of hate crime vulnerability for 1,000 persons, while those 50 or older men and women who were victims of racial or ethnic groups. Whites were experienced 0.4 per 1,000 annually. hate crimes reported that they were victimized at a rate of 0.9 per 1,000, victimized because of their sexual blacks at 0.7 per 1,000, members of Persons who lived in cities were more orientation. other races at 1.4 per 1,000, Hispanics likely to be hate crime victims, Motivation for Gender of victims at 0.9 per 1,000, and non-Hispanics at compared to those living in suburbs or hate crimes Male Female 0.9 per 1,000. rural areas. About 1.3 per 1,000 living Race 57.1% 54.7% in urban areas were victims annually, Association 30.2 30.9 Table 8. Characteristics of victims compared to 0.8 per 1,000 in suburban Ethnicity 28.9 26.7 Sexual orientation 16.3 19.7 of hate crime areas and 0.7 in rural places. Perceived characteristics 15.7 10.1 Annual rate of hate Religion 11.9 13.1 related victimizations Disability 10.3 10.8 Characteristic per 1,000 persons About 1 in every 265 vandalized of victims All Violent households considered the Notes: Detail does not add to 100% because some respondents included more than one Gender vandalism a hate crime motivation. Male 1.0 0.9 Female 0.8 0.6 On an annual basis, an average of Among victims of hate crimes, half Race 5.9 million households were vandal- of both whites and blacks and three- White 0.9 0.8 ized from July 2000 through Decem- Black 0.7 0.5 quarters of those identified as Asian Othera 1.4 1.1 ber 2003. Approximately 22,500 or American Indian said they were households, 0.4% of all those victimized because of their race. origin vandalized, showed evidence of Hispanic 0.9 0.8 Three-quarters of Hispanic victims of Non-Hispanic 0.9 0.8 hate motivation. hate crime said they were victimized Age Approximately 54 per 1,000 house- because of their ethnicity. The small 17 or younger 1.6 1.6 holds had experienced vandalism.* numbers of sampled black hate crime 18-20 1.6 1.6 victims limits analysis of the reasons 21-29 1.1 1.0 For 0.2 per 1,000 households (2 per 30-39 0.9 0.6 10,000), the vandalism had the they believe they were victimized. 40-49 1.0 0.7 earmarks of a hate crime. Motivation for Race/Ethnicity of victims 50 or older 0.5 0.3 hate crimes White Black Othera Average annual estimates Marital status Total number of households 110,949,770 Race 54.7% 50.9*% 86.8% Never married 1.5 1.4 Vandalism incidents 5,942,610 Association 32.8 25.4* 0.0* Married 0.5 0.4 Hate related vandalism 22,450 Ethnicity 24.3 35.7* 65.8* Separated/divorced 2.6 1.2 Sexual orientation 19.6 11.7* 6.2* Widowed 0.1 0.2* Hate related vandalism as Perceived a percent of all vandalism 0.4% characteristics 14.6 0.0* 16.9* Educational attainment Religion 14.5 0.0* 5.3* Less than high Rate per 1,000 households Disability 11.7 7.6* 0.0* school diploma 1.1 1.0 Vandalism 53.6 High school diploma 0.9 0.6 Hate related vandalism 0.2 Non- More than high school Hispanic Hispanic diploma 0.8 0.7 *Vandalized households include only those Race 55.1% 56.4% that reported whether the vandalism was hate Association 20.2* 31.4 Household income related. Ethnicity 77.5 22.3 Less than $25,000 1.3 1.0 Sexual orientation 3.5* 19.6 $25,000 - $49,999 1.0 0.9 Source: BJS, National Crime Victimization Perceived characteristics 7.0* 13.5 $50,000 or more 0.7 0.7 Survey, July 2000 through December 2003. Religion 0.0* 13.4 Not reported 0.6 0.5 Disability 3.1* 11.4 Location Notes: Detail does not add to 100% because Urban 1.3 1.0 some respondents included more than one Suburban 0.8 0.7 motivation. Rural 0.7 0.6 *Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases. Note: For property crimes, characteristics are aIncludes American Indians and Asians. Persons those of the person reporting the incident to of more than one race are excluded. the NCVS. a Includes American Indians and Asians. Persons of more than one race are excluded. *Estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample cases. Source: BJS, National Crime Victimization Survey, July 2000 through December 2003.

6 Hate Crime Reported by Victims and Police A third of hate crime victims 20 or While victims of violent hate crimes Table 9. Characteristics of offenders younger and a quarter of those 21 or reported white and black offenders as reported by their victims older said they were selected as in close percentages (44% white and Percent of victimiza- victims because of the people with 38% black), a higher percentage of tions for crimes of whom they associated. those who were victims of violent violence— crimes not related to hate reported Characteristic of Other than Age of victims offenders Hate hate Motivation for 20 or 21 or having white rather than black offend- hate crimes younger older ers (62% white and 24% black). Number of offenders One 67.5% 80.5% Race 51.7% 57.7% Two or three 16.3 12.2 Association 37.4 27.9 About 26% of the offenders described Four or more 16.2 6.3 Ethnicity 22.4 30.0 Unknown 0.0* 1.0 Sexual orientation 16.0* 18.6 by victims of violent hate crime and Perceived characteristics 9.5* 14.7 33% of victims of non-hate related Gender Religion 11.8* 12.7 violent crime were 20 or younger, a Male 72.2% 79.5% Disability 8.5* 11.3 nonsignificant difference. Female 21.2 17.2 Both male and female 6.6 3.2 Notes: Detail does not add to 100% because some respondents included more than one Fifty-two percent of victims of violent Race motivation. White 43.5% 61.8% *Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases. hate crime and 45% of victims of other Black 38.8 23.6 violent crimes were victimized by Othera 11.9 11.8 Hate crime offenders generally strangers or persons they recognized More than one race 5.7 2.8 acted alone and were strangers only by sight. These numbers were not Age statistically different. 17 or younger 19.7% 23.0% to their victim 18-20 6.5 9.7 21-29 21.4 23.7 The NCVS has information on offend- About a quarter of offenders commit- 30 or older 38.1 36.2 ers who committed crimes because ting hate or nonbias crimes used a More than one age group 14.3 7.4 the victim was present, knew the weapon, for example, a firearm, knife offender, or learned something about or other sharp object, or a blunt Victim-offender instrument. relationship the offender after the incident. Stranger 52.1% 45.4% About the same percentage of victims Use of weapons According to victim reports, crimes are Weaponb 23.9% 24.2% generally committed by one offender. of violent hate crimes and victims of No weapon 69.8 68.8 A sole offender committed about 68% non-hate related violent crimes thought Unknown 6.3 7.1 they were victimized by gang of violent hate crimes (table 9). Hate Perceived gang crimes which accompanied a violent members (7% and 6%). membership crime were more likely than violent Gang member 7.1% 5.6% Motivations attributed to male and Not a gang member 48.5 58.3 crimes without hate characteristics to Unknown 44.4 36.0 be carried out by two or more offenders female hate crime offenders were not significantly different. Perceived substance (32.5% versus 18.5%). use Gender of offenders Offender drunk Offenders are predominantly male. committing hate crimes or on drugs 30.6% 30.6% Motivation Male Female Both Offender not drunk Approximately 79% of victims of a or on drugs 41.7 40.1 violent hate crime reported that at least Race 55.5% 68.8% 35.9* Unknown 27.7 29.3 one of the offenders was a man, as Association 26.4 22.6 51.5* Ethnicity 25.8 37.1 14.1* Injury to victim were 83% of offenders in violent Sexual Injured 20.6% 28.2% orientation 19.4 7.3* 38.3* crimes described as not being Note: Other than hate crimes are those motivated by hate or bias. Perceived characteristics 12.5 8.3* 7.6* described by victims as not having attributes Religion 10.8 14.8* 6.2* that define hate crimes. Excluded are crimes A significantly higher percentage of Disability 7.4 8.4* 37.0* for which the victims did not know or answer whether they were targeted as hate victims victims of violent hate crimes than Notes: Detail does not add to 100% because (5.2% of all victimizations). Offender charac- those reporting a non-hate related some victims reported multiple motivations. teristics are only from victimizations at which violent crime said the offenders were *Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases. the victim was present or learned something about the offender. black C about 38% of hate crime *Estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample victims and 24% of victims reporting a cases. non-hate related violent victimization. aIncludes American Indians and Asians. bFirearms, knives, and sharp and blunt objects. Source: BJS, National Crime Victimization Survey, July 2000 through December 2003.

Hate Crime Reported by Victims and Police 7 When hate victims reported that the Table 10. Hate crime and other types of crime, by time and place of occurrence persons committing the crime were black, 9 in 10 victims said they thought Percent of victimizations for crimes of — the offender’s motive for the crime was Violence Time and place of occurrence Hate Hate Other than hate their race; in 2 in 10, they thought it Time was ethnicity. For victims reporting 6 a.m. to noon 18.0% 18.7% 12.5% white offenders, about 3 in 10 victims Noon to 6 p.m. 41.3 42.5 36.7 attributed the crime to race, 3 in 10 to 6 p.m. to midnight 26.5 29.0 33.2 Midnight to 6 a.m. 8.2 7.9 12.4 the characteristics of associates of the Unknown 6.0 1.9* 5.3 victim, 3 in 10 to their ethnicity, and 3 in 10 to their sexual orientation. Type of place At or near victim's home 26.2% 21.3% 30.7% Race of offenders At a friend's house 6.3 6.6 9.9 committing hate crimes Commercial place, parking, on street 37.9 42.0 38.5 White Black Othera School 20.1 20.3 12.9 Race 30.5% 89.1% 59.3% Other 9.5 9.9 8.0 Association 28.6 24.2 21.1* Ethnicity 30.2 19.1 52.1 Distance from home Sexual At home/next door 31.0% 26.6% 32.5% orientation 27.8 8.3* 12.4* Less than a mile from home 20.5 22.4 18.4 Perceived 1 to 5 miles from home 22.0 22.6 23.6 characteristics 16.2 8.8* 5.3* More than 5 miles from home 26.5 28.4 25.4 Religion 17.0 1.9* 14.3* Inside/outside Disability 13.5 2.0* 3.0* Inside 46.7 41.7% 47.9% Notes: Detail does not add to 100% because Outside 50.8 55.3 49.9 some victims reported multiple motivations. Both 2.5* 2.9* 2.2* *Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases. aIncludes American Indians and Asians. Note: Other than hate crimes are those described by victims as not having attributes that define hate crimes. Excluded are crimes for which the victims did not know or answer whether they were targeted as hate victims (5.2% of all victimizations). A quarter of the hate crime offenders *Estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample cases. identified as at least 21 were said by Source: BJS, National Crime Victimization Survey, July 2000 through December 2003. their victims to have committed the offense because of the victim’s ethnic- Hate crime victims and offenders About 4 in 10 white hate crime victims ity or the characteristics of persons differ in age indicated that the offenders were white, with whom they associated. and the same proportion reported the Age of offenders The following compares the gender, offenders to have been black. The committing hate crimes race, and age of crime victims with small number of black hate crime 20 or 21 or those of their offenders. Some table victims precludes analysis of the race younger older cells have few cases, making conclu- of persons who victimized them. Race 50.5% 59.1% sions tentative. Association 28.6 26.8 Race of victim Race of offender White Black Other Ethnicity 24.6* 28.0 About 9 in 10 male hate crime victims Sexual orientation 16.0* 19.6 White 43.2% 85.2%* 51.7%* Black 43.3 14.8* 25.1* Perceived characteristics 9.6* 12.0 reported that the person who victimized Other 13.4 0.0* 23.2* Religion 14.5* 9.5 them was also male. Female victims Disability 12.1* 9.1 were almost equally likely to have been *Estimate is based on 10 or fewer Notes: Detail does not add to 100% because victimized by males and , with sample cases. some victims reported multiple motivations. 59% identifying a male offender and Source: BJS, National Crime Victimization *Estimate is based on 10 or fewer cases. 50% a female offender (including the Survey, July 2000 through December 2003. 9% who said both males and females committed the hate crime). Young victims — those 20 or younger — reported young offenders, and older Gender of victim victims — those 21 or older — older Gender of offender Male Female Male 89.3% 49.7% offenders. Approximately 61% of young Female 6.1* 41.0 victims said the offenders were young, Both 4.5* 9.3* and 88% of older victims had older offenders. *Estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample cases. Source: BJS, National Crime Victimization Survey, July 2000 through December 2003.

8 Hate Crime Reported by Victims and Police Age of victim 20 or 21 or Table 11. Hate crime motivation reported to the NCVS and the UCR Age of offender younger older Percent of hate crime victimizations 20 or younger 60.7% 11.8% National Crime Victimization Survey Uniform 21 or older 39.3 88.2 Basis of Not reported Reported Crime Reporting motivation Total to police to police Program *Estimate is based on 10 or fewer Race 56.0% 54.7% 55.9% 51.4% sample cases. Association 30.6 29.6 30.0 / Source: BJS, National Crime Victimization Ethnicity 27.9 27.0 29.1 16.5 Survey, July 2000 through December 2003. Sexual orientation 17.9 15.6 21.4 18.1 Perceived characteristic 13.2 15.1 11.4 / Hate crimes occur in public places Religion 12.4 11.5 11.2 13.4 Disability 10.5 11.5 9.7 0.6 Both violent hate crimes and violent Note: Detail does not add to 100% because some respondents included more than one motivation. The total NCVS column includes cases without data on reporting to police. non-bias crimes took place between /Not available. noon and midnight C 72% of violent hate crimes and 70% of violent Sources: BJS, National Crime Victimization Survey, July 2000 through December 2003; non-hate related crimes (table 10). and FBI, Uniform Crime Reporting Program Hate Crime File, 2002. • For law enforcement agencies that A comparison of these data provides About 62% of violent hate crimes took report summary numbers of crimes, some striking similarities but also some place in a public area, primarily a the FBI developed a brief form to major differences. commercial establishment, parking collect incident-specific information area, the street, or a school. By about hate crime incidents, victims, NCVS and UCR demonstrate similar comparison, 51% of violent offenses and offenders, including motivation motivations for hate crimes not hate related occurred in a public and other characteristics. space. Motivations reported for hate crimes • For law enforcement agencies that were similar for the NCVS victimiza- Violent hate crimes were less likely provide incident-based records to the tions reported to police and UCR. In than other violent crimes to take place FBI, hate crime data are captured in both, race is identified as the primary at the victim's home C 21% of hate the NIBRS framework. motivation for a hate crime (56% for crimes and 31% of violent crimes not NCVS and 51% for UCR) (table 11). reflecting bias. The FBI combines the hate crime Ethnicity is similarly ranked for the reports from both the summary NCVS (29%) and for UCR (17%). Both Hate crime statistics from the FBI’s program and NIBRS into a single file, NCVS and UCR numbers indicate Uniform Crime Reporting Program the UCR Hate Crime file. about 1 in 6 hate crimes were (UCR) and the NCVS motivated by bias against a sexual The NCVS does not include reports of orientation and 1 in 9 by bias against The FBI has compiled statistics on hate crime from institutions, organizations, a religion. crime based on reports of law enforce- churches, schools, and businesses, ment agencies since 1992. The FBI although persons involved in these Motivations perceived by NCVS victims appends reports on hate crimes to their entities are included. It does, however, of crimes not reported to police are existing data collection from law include crimes not reported to police. similar to ones for NCVS crimes enforcement agencies through the To make the data comparable, only reported to police. Race is still thought Uniform Crime Reporting Program UCR and NIBRS crimes in which an to be the primary reason for hate (UCR). individual was the victim are analyzed crimes (56% for crimes reported to for this report. police and 55% for those not reported). The UCR collects nationwide counts Ethnicity provides the basis for about for specific crimes reported to police Both the NCVS and the UCR collect 29% of crimes reported to police and from approximately 17,300 law data on rape and other sexual assault, 27% for those not reported. About 21% enforcement agencies, representing robbery, simple and aggravated of NCVS crimes reported to police and 93.4% of the U.S. population in 2003. assault, burglary, auto theft, and 16% not reported were thought to be About 4,200 agencies report detailed larceny. The UCR also collects motivated by sexual orientation. information to an enhanced UCR incident-specific information on program, the National Incident-Based homicide. Both the NCVS and the Reporting System (NIBRS). Law NIBRS hate crimes provide information enforcement agencies use one of on victims — their gender, race, and these means to provide data on hate age — and on offenders — their crimes: numbers, demographic characteristics, and weapons.

Hate Crime Reported by Victims and Police 9 Table 12. Type of hate crime reported to the NCVS and the UCR Table 13. Characteristics of victims of hate crime reported to NCVS and NIBRS Percent of hate crime victimizations National Crime Uniform Percent of hate crime victimizations Victimization Survey Crime National Crime National Not reported Reported Reporting Victimization Survey Incident- Type of crime Total to police to police Program Characteristics Not reported Reported based Report- Violent crime 83.7% 85.0% 84.2% 79.6% of victims Total to police to police ing Program Homicide / / / 0.1 Gender Rape/sexual assault 4.0* 2.3* 6.3* 0.2 Male 55.4% 59.8% 51.0% 64.7% Robbery 5.0 5.4* 4.6* 2.2 Female 44.6 40.2 49.0 35.3 Aggravated assault 18.5 13.5 25.4 13.5 Simple assault 28.2 29.8 27.3 23.2 Race Verbal threat/ 28.0 34.0 20.6 40.2 White 85.0% 85.1% 84.4% 66.5% Black 9.2 8.0* 10.9 29.1 16.3% 15.0% 15.8% 20.4% Other 5.8 6.9* 4.7* 4.4 Burglary 3.7* 0.6* 7.7* 1.5 Motor vehicle theft 0.3* 0.0* 0.7* 0.1 Ethnicity Theft 12.3 14.4 7.4 1.2 Hispanic 11.4% 13.5% 9.2% 8.8% Vandalisma / / / 17.5 Non-Hispanic 88.6 86.5 90.8 91.2 Other property / / / 0.1 Age Note: The NCVS total includes cases without data on reporting to police. 17 or younger 18.8% 28.0% 8.1%* 19.1% *Estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample cases. 18-20 9.3 9.4 9.6* 11.4 /Not available. 21-29 18.1 18.3 18.6 24.1 aIncludes arson. 30-49 37.3 26.8 47.8 34.9 Sources: BJS, National Crime Victimization Survey, July 2000 through 50 or older 16.5 17.5 15.9 10.4 December 2003; and FBI, Uniform Crime Reporting Program Hate Crime Note: For property crimes, characteristics are those of head File, 2002. of household. For the 1,725 hate crime victimizations in NIBRS, the missing data for victim characteristics were Basic categories of offenses are aggravated assaults as follows: 22 cases missing gender, 94 missing race, motivated by hate similar for (14% versus 25%). A 721 missing ethnicity, and 72 missing age. both NCVS and UCR somewhat higher *Estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample cases. percentage of unreported Sources: BJS, National Crime Victimization Survey, July 2000 through December 2003; and National Incident-Based About 8 in 10 hate crimes are violent crimes (34%) than Reporting System, 2002. crimes and the remaining 2 in 10 are reported crimes (21%) property crimes as described by the were crimes of (49% of NCVS crimes reported to NCVS and the UCR (table 12). intimidation. police and 35% of NIBRS).

However, among violent hate crimes, Some basic characteristics of hate Compared to NIBRS, the NCVS had a the NCVS reports substantially higher crime victims differ in NCVS and higher percentage of white hate crime percentages of aggravated assault — NIBRS victims. Among hate crime victims, crimes involving from attacks approximately 84% of those in NCVS or the use of a weapon (25% of NCVS NIBRS data provide a richer array of and 67% of those in NIBRS were white. crimes reported to police versus 14% information on victim and offender Conversely, a smaller percentage of of UCR reports). The NCVS hate characteristics than does the UCR's NCVS hate crime victims were black; crimes include a smaller percentage of reporting on hate crime from its 11% in the NCVS compared to 29% in crimes classified as intimidation or summary program. However, NIBRS NIBRS. NCVS victims were also older verbal than the UCR (21% of information can be attributed only to than those reported in NIBRS. About NCVS crimes reported to police and crimes in the NIBRS jurisdictions, for it 64% were 30 or older among the 40% of UCR reports). is not statistically representative of NCVS victims and 45% among NIBRS crimes reported to police nationwide. victims. Among property crimes perceived to be Hence, any relationships between the hate related and said by NCVS victims NCVS and NIBRS data could be Some basic characteristics of hate to be reported to police, the NCVS and coincidental. NCVS figures are repre- crime offenders also differ between UCR both reported relatively small sentative of hate crimes nationwide. NCVS and NIBRS percentages of hate crime in burglary (8% and 2%) and larceny or household While the majority of hate crime victims Hate crime offenders described by the theft (7% and 1%). described by both the NCVS crimes NCVS crimes reported to police differ reported to police and the NIBRS are from those in the NIBRS in number of NCVS hate crimes not reported to law male, higher percentages of NCVS offenders, and their race, age, relation- enforcement differed in seriousness hate crime victims are women ship to victim, and weapon use. from the ones reported to police. A compared to NIBRS hate crime victims Both the NCVS and NIBRS describe smaller percentage of the unreported that half of the hate crime

10 Hate Crime Reported by Victims and Police Table 14. Characteristics of offenders reported by hate crime victims Methodology to NCVS and NIBRS NCVS response rates Percent of hate crime victimizations National Crime Victimization Survey National Not reported Reported Incident-based For the NCVS response rates of all Characteristics of offenders Total to police to police Reporting System persons selected to be interviewed Number of offenders varied during the period of analysis One 67.5% 73.2% 60.4% 68.3% from 87% to 90%. During the 2000 to Two or three 16.3 15.0 18.1 25.7 Four or more 16.2 11.8 21.5 6.0 2003 period, approximately 500,000 interviews were conducted for the Gender Male 72.2% 74.2% 69.4% 76.4% survey. Approximately 1% of those Female 21.2 23.4 18.9 16.5 interviewed did not supply information Both male and female 6.6 2.4* 11.7 7.2 on possible hate crime victimization, Race and 4.2% did not know if a crime was White 43.9% 45.3% 42.6% 68.1% motivated by hate. Black 37.6 33.8 42.5 20.7 Other 13.2 14.7 10.3* 1.5 More than one racial group 5.4 6.2* 4.5* 9.7 UCR response rate Age 17 or younger 21.0% 29.3% 11.5% 24.7% In 2002, 12,073 law enforcement 18-20 6.2 7.3* 5.0* 9.7 agencies provided 1 to 12 months of 21-29 21.1 17.3 24.6 15.9 30 or older 37.8 35.6 40.8 36.0 hate crime data to the UCR Program. More than one age group 14.0 10.5* 18.2 13.6 Of those agencies 15.5% (1,868 Victim-offender relationshipa agencies) reported a total of 7,462 Stranger 51.3% 49.0% 54.8% 35.8% incidents. The remaining 84.5% indi- Use of weapons cated that no instances of hate crimes Weaponb 23.9% 19.3% 30.1% 19.4% occurred within their jurisdiction.* Other weaponc / / / 12.6 No weapon 69.8 75.8 61.8 64.4 Unknown 6.3 4.9* 8.2* 3.6 The UCR hate crime file lists 9,222 hate victims in 2002; 7,646 are individ- Note: The NCVS total includes cases without data on reporting to police. It also includes property crimes for which the victim provided information about the offender, unlike the figures in table 9. ual victims, and the remainder For NIBRS, of 1,725 of hate crime victimization in 2002, the missing data for offender character- business, government, religious istics were as follows: 416 cases missing number of offenders, 566 cases missing gender, 599 organizations, and the public. The missing race, 637 age, 913 victim-offender relationship, and 946 use of weapons. NIBRS data file includes information on aFor the National Incident-Based Reporting System, victim-offender relationship is only collected for crimes against persons. 1,725 individual victims of hate crimes. bIncludes firearms, knives, and sharp and blunt objects. C Includes motor vehicles, personal weapons (hands, feet, teeth, and others), poison, explosives, For both the NCVS and UCR hate incendiary devices, drugs and other items. /Not available. crime files, a hierarchy determines the *Estimate is based on 10 or fewer sample cases. type of crime, based on characteristics Sources: BJS, National Crime Victimization Survey, July 2000 through of the incident that described the December 2003; and FBI, National Incident-Based Reporting System, 2002. offense seriousness. For example, if a crime involved both a rape and a victimizations are committed by one NCVS victimizations had offenders robbery, it would be classified as a offender, although a smaller percent- who were identified as 21 or older rape for analysis. The types of crime age of offenders described by the compared to 52% in NIBRS. are listed in order of seriousness in NCVS were committed by only one tables 3 and 12. person (61% and 68%) (table 14). Offenders reported by the NCVS were more likely to be strangers than offend- Data from the NIBRS, taken from the Most offenders are male (81% of ers in NIBRS (55% of victimizations public use file on January 1, 2005, had victimizations for the NCVS and 84% versus 36%). 3 victims from an uncertified State and for NIBRS). 17 incidents with a 2001 date. NCVS offenders were more likely than Although the NCVS shows about the NIBRS offenders to have a firearm, Standard error computations same percentage of victimizations had sharp implement, or blunt object. Of white and black offenders (43% of those NCVS victimizations reported to Comparisons of percentages and rates those reported to police are white and police, 30% were said to have a for the NCVS made in this report were 43% are black), NIBRS shows more weapon compared to 19% from white than black offenders (68% white NIBRS. *Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, and 21% black). Approximately 65% of Hate Crime Statistics 2002.

Hate Crime Reported by Victims and Police 11 tested to determine if observed differ- attributed to a specific calendar year. The Bureau of Justice Statistics is ences were statistically significant. The numbers are also an annual the statistical agency of the U.S. average for the 3½ years, rather than Department of Justice. Lawrence A. Differences described as higher, lower, numbers for a specific year. Greenfeld is director. or different passed a hypothesis test at the .05 level of statistical significance A household was counted as having Caroline Wolf Harlow wrote this (95% confidence level). The tested experienced vandalism if they were report. Michael Rand, Patsy Klaus, difference was greater than twice the vandalized in any 6-month period, while and Ramona Rantala provided standard error of that difference. the households-victimized-by-crime statistical assistance and verified the measure counts households vandal- report. Tom Hester and Carolyn Significance testing calculations were ized within a year. Vandalism was not Williams produced and edited it. conducted at BJS using statistical included in the analysis of NCVS hate programs developed specifically for the crimes unless it was a part of another Denise Lewis, NCVS Research Unit, NCVS by the US Census Bureau. NCVS crime. See the box on page 6 Demographic Surveys Division, the These programs take into considera- for estimates of vandalism. U.S. Census Bureau, performed tion many aspects of the complex initial analysis of the hate crime NCVS sample design when calculating Some limitations of data variables and developed coded generalized variance estimates. variables. The Hate Crime Statistics Act does not Vandalism include gender as a hate condition and November 2005 NCJ 209911 it has not been included in either NCVS The numbers on vandalism reported or UCR publications. Some information here differ from the BJS households- relevant to analyzing hate crime is not Office of Justice Programs victimized-by-crime measure in several included in either the NCVS or the Partnerships for Safer Communities ways. This report uses data collected UCR, such as, ethnicity other than http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov from July 2000 through December Hispanic, sexual orientation, and relig- 2003 rather than victimizations ious background or affiliation.

12 Hate Crime Reported by Victims and Police