People protested against hate crimes targeting Asian Americans in New York City in 2021. JOHN LAMPARSKI/NURPHOTO, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
By Weihua Li and Jamiles Lartey, The Marshall Project, March 25, 2023
Hate crimes reported to the FBI by law enforcement agencies rose from more than 8,000 in 2020 to nearly 11,000 the following year, according to updated statistics released last week. Crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Sikhs and bisexual people all more than doubled. Meanwhile, hate crimes against Black, White and LGBTQ people made up nearly half of all incidents.
The number of reported hate crimes has been on the rise since 2014, but it still represents a fraction of bias-related incidents. Most go unreported or are not policed because hate crime laws vary across the country. Despite the limitations, experts say the FBI data still captures some important trends and provides a useful glimpse into how police enforce these laws.
This isn’t the first time the FBI has published 2021 hate crime statistics. The agency initially released a report in December, but because of a recent change in how the federal government collects crime data, nearly 40% of police agencies did not participate.
Comments (0)