NATIONWIDE – New numbers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation show hate crimes across the country have jumped nearly 20 percent from 2016 to 2017.
- Hate crimes jumped 20 percent in one year
- Biggest motivator race and ethnicity
- On an upward trend since 2014.
The biggest motivators of the hate crimes are race and ethnicity. According to the FBI report, the number of hate crimes have been on an upward trend since 2014.
To determine a hate crime, the FBI looks at the motivation behind the crime. Agents investigate if the the offender’s bias involved race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, or gender identity.
The total number of incidents spiked to one of the highest recorded levels in 2001. Hate crimes tapered off before reaching a 17-year low in 2014. Since then, the FBI has been documenting a growing number of incidents.
The types of incidents the bureau investigates are mostly racially-motivated crimes. There is a steep decrease from 2000 to 2001, and then a steep jump from 2014 to the highest recorded number of racially related incidents in 2015.
Hate crimes motivated by a religious bias account for the second-highest amount of incidents. The surge between 2014 and 2015 is one of the most dramatic shifts, before these incidents peaked in 2016.
Sexual orientation bias is the third most reported hate crime. These incidents had one of the longest sustained periods of uninterrupted growth.
For six straight years, hate crime incidents involving sexual orientation grew until they peaked in 2011. That was the same year “Don't ask don't tell” was repealed. Those numbers are now on a downward trend.
Advocates still think the numbers could actually be higher, with many victims often choosing to stay silent.
All of the numbers are gathered from police departments that report crimes to the FBI.