The individual and community-wide impacts of a hate crime can have devastating and long-lasting effects, making it crucial that law enforcement recognizes and responds effectively to hate crimes. Police have the opportunity to help create safe spaces to report these crimes, to support justice, and to assist in the recovery of those affected by these crimes.
Most often these crimes are committed by a group or individual against another person or group based on demographics such as race, color, religion, ethnicity, national origin, gender, or sexual orientation. At the U.S. federal level, a hate crime is defined as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity.”
“This course has given me the guidance and appropriate literature to develop some policy or response to fill our reporting gap.” —Participant, Hate Crimes: Recognition & Reporting, May 2021
Hate crimes may affect people more profoundly than other crimes because they target and aim to devalue aspects of an individual’s identity. The victims of hate crimes tend to experience psychological distress at a higher rate than victims of other crimes. Data show that victims of bias-motivated crimes are more likely to experience post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and other forms of emotional distress.
Hate Crime Training
In 2018, the Arlington, Texas, Police Department (APD) identified the need for training on hate crimes as a critical gap in the effort to develop a more effective and just response to the needs of victims and communities. To address this gap, APD developed and launched an agency-wide training that was rolled out through in-service training and their academy in 2019. In 2020, the Collaborative Reform Initiative Technical Assistance Center (CRI-TAC) partnered with APD to review the training and customize the content for delivery to law enforcement across the United States. CRI-TAC is led by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), with support from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (the COPS Office), and in partnership with nine leading law enforcement peer organizations. The International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training, a CRI-TAC partner, played a large role in the customization of the hate crime training. Additional partners in CRI-TAC include the Fraternal Order of Police; FBI National Academy Associates, Inc.; International Association of Cam-pus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA); Major County Sheriffs of America; National Organization of Black Law
Enforcement Executives; National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives; National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA); and National Tactical Officers Association.
The resulting Hate Crimes: Recognition & Reporting training was launched in May 2021 through CRI-TAC, in partnership with APD. The first national delivery was presented in collaboration with the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police (TACP). Thirty participants from eighteen Tennessee agencies attended the training hosted by TACP and the Metro Nashville, Tennessee, Police Department.
“Ideas have already been submitted to my department’s administration prior to leaving the building!” —Participant, Hate Crimes: Recognition & Reporting, May 2021
The relevance and timeliness of this training is clear. While 2020 hate crime data from the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigations, Uni-form Crime Reporting Program (UCR) is not yet available, the number of reported hate crime incidents in 2019 continue to reflect a concerning upward trend. Additionally, given the voluntary nature of reporting incidents to the UCR, these data are likely underreported and do not provide a true representation of the impact of these crimes.
Hate Crimes: Recognition & Reporting is designed as a one-day training, built on the concept that recognizing and reporting hate incidents, addressing the needs of victims, and building community trust play central roles in successful hate crimes investigations and in obtaining justice for victims and communities. Course delivery methods consist of facilitated discussions, lectures, group exercises, participant-led activities, and case studies. Training objectives include the following:
- Define “hate crime” and “hate incident.”
- Analyze national historical events that are relevant and contribute to present-day hate crimes.
- Compare and contrast the specific protected classes involved in hate crimes investigations.
- Identify characteristics of hate crime offenders.
- Conduct a preliminary investigation to include identification of bias crime indicators, common victim responses and needs, collection of testimonial evidence, accurate reporting, and building community trust.
Agencies interested in receiving this training may visit CRI-TAC
(www.collaborativereform.org) to submit a request.d
Notes:
1Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Hate Crimes.”
2American Psychological Association, “The Psychology of Hate Crimes,” August 2017.
3U.S. Department of Justice, “2019 Hate Crime Statistics.”
Please cite as
Laura Wilt and Brianne Covington, “Recognizing and Responding to Hate Crimes,” IACP@Work, Police Chief 88, no. 8 (August 2021): 78–80.
