The last time hate crime statistics were officially reported by the state was in 2016.

"We have a right to know and understand the severity of hate crimes across the state," said Assemblywoman Nily Rozic.

Assemblywoman Rozic is one of many lawmakers that has been calling on the Division of Criminal Justice Services to release reports of hate crime statistics in the state for 2017 and 2018.

"We are making our best efforts across the state to make sure people are trained to identify and report these hate crimes so there is no excuse for any agency to not put out those numbers," said Rozic.

Back in February, a spokesperson for DCJS said that the report was in the final stages for review and would be available soon.

Around 10 months later, when asked Wednesday, DCJS spokesperson Janine Kava released another statement saying, “The reports will be available in the very near future. Data included in these reports are reported to the state by more than 500 police agencies. We want to ensure that the reports, when published, include the most comprehensive, accurate data available.”

Schenectady County Human Rights Commission Director Ang Morris, however, says still more needs to be done since it can be hard to find ways to combat the problem if people don’t know how severe the problem is.

"There has got to be more resources, money, and information to be released to the general public and community about these hate crimes," explains Morris.

The state has made some steps in addressing hate crimes. A bill was just recently signed that will require law enforcement to go through hate crime recognition training.