Hate Crime Reporting: Understanding Police Officer Perceptions, Departmental Protocol, and the Role of the Victim: Is There Such a Thing as a "Love" Crime?

• NCJ Number: 190198
• Journal: Justice Research and Policy Volume: 3 Issue: 1 Dated: Spring 2001 Pages: 1-27
• Author(s): Jennifer M. Balboni; Jack McDevitt
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 27 pages
• Grant Number(s): 98-BJ-CX-K010
• Sponsoring Agency: Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper discusses reporting hate crimes.

Abstract

Because of sporadic and often perfunctory law enforcement compliance with the Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990, official data on hate crime currently tell little about the prevalence of hate crime nationally. Reasons for this included lack of departmental infrastructure to support accurate reporting, lack of training, officer disincentives to accurately report, and, perhaps most important, hesitation on the part of victims to involve law enforcement. The article discusses all of those factors and their impact on hate crime reporting. Data were drawn from a survey of law enforcement officers from a stratified national sample, and interviews with advocacy and human rights professionals. In addition, the article briefly summarizes 10 years of official data on hate crimes. The article suggests improvements that involve working on police/minority group relations, as well as building appropriate departmental infrastructure. The article concludes that research and education into hate crimes can increase awareness among law enforcement professionals and the community so that ultimately the victims of such crimes can benefit from more insightful, strategic law enforcement interaction. Notes, figures, tables, references