Hate crimes have unique implications beyond the immediate victim and can 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.¹ Properly and compassionately investigating and responding to hate crimes is critical to creating and maintaining trust between law enforcement and communities.

Properly and compassionately investigating and responding to hate crimes is critical to creating and maintaining trust between law enforcement and communities.

Because the impact of hate crimes can have devastating and long-lasting effects, it is critical that law enforcement personnel are able to successfully recognize, respond to, and investigate these crimes. Effective leadership, community engagement, training, policies, and procedures can help create safe spaces to report, recognize, and investigate hate crimes and address victims’ needs as they recover. Hate crimes are often committed by a group or individual against another person or group based on demographics. In the United States at the 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.”²

Hate Crime Training

Since 2020, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) has collaborated with various stakeholders through the Collaborative Reform Initiative Technical Assistance Center (CRI-TAC), a program funded by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office), to support the development and delivery of Hate Crimes: Recognition & Reporting training for line-level officers across the United States. This training was launched in May 2021 to address the immediate response by officers on the scene of a potential hate or bias crime.

Building upon this body of work, the IACP is developing a new Hate Crime Investigations training for investigators. Proper investigation of hate crimes necessitates specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities; however, current training and resources focused on understanding, identifying, and investigating hate crimes are scarce. Investigating a potential hate crime requires a clear understanding of state and federal hate crimes statutes, an awareness of the specific evidence and information prosecutors may need, and knowledge of what resources exist to assist in an investigation. Further, public messaging in the aftermath of a potential hate crime is crucial to building and maintaining community trust in law enforcement. Proper messaging and response can provide reassurance and support to a community who may feel more vulnerable after being the target of a hate crime.

The relevance and timeliness of this training is clear. While 2022 hate crime data from the Department of Justice, FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program (UCR) are not yet available, the number of reported hate crime incidents in 2021 surpassed those in 2020 by over 11 percent.³ Additionally, given the voluntary nature of reporting incidents to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), these data are likely underreported and do not provide a true representation of the impact of these crimes.

The newly developed Hate Crime Investigations course is designed as a one-day training built on the concept that conducting a thorough hate or bias crime investigation plays a significant role in accurately reporting and successfully prosecuting these crimes. Course delivery methods will consist of facilitated discussions, lectures, group exercises, participant-led activities, and case studies. Central course topics include—

• • Protected Classes
  • First Responder Responsibilities
  • Evidence Identification and Collection
  • Collaboration with Prosecutors
  • Victim Advocacy
  • Community Outreach and Engagement

The one-day Hate Crime Investigations course will be launched in fall 2023 through a regional direct training delivery, followed by the launch of a 16-hour train-the-trainer model. Agencies interested in receiving this training or the currently available Hate Crimes: Recognition & Reporting training may visit CRI-TAC to submit a request.

Notes:

¹Amy Novotney, “Hate Crimes Are on the Rise in the U.S. What Are the Psychological Effects?” May 18, 2023.

²Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Hate Crimes.”

³U.S. Department of Justice, “FBI Releases Supplement to the 2021 Hate Crime Statistics,” press release, March 28, 2023.