DALLAS — With hate crimes on the rise across the country, the Dallas Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched a new campaign to encourage more victims and witnesses of hate crimes to report information to law enforcement.

What You Need To Know

  • The FBI is urging victims and witnesses to report any information on hate crimes via a dedicated anonymous tip line

  • The rate of hate crimes across the country increased by 6.1% in 2020 from the previous year

  • The Dallas District of the FBI has joined other Texas cities in a newly launched campaign of billboards and radio ads aimed at drawing awareness of how to report hate crimes in Texas

The campaign, which launched last week in the form of billboards across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, is aimed at raising public awareness about hate crimes and their impact on individuals and the community.

The campaign is part of a national FBI effort. The Dallas Division’s launch follows similar launches in Houston, San Antonio and El Paso, where a 2019 shooting at a Walmart left 23 dead and injured numerous others. Federal prosecutors have charged the shooter in that case, Patrick Crusius, with several counts of hate crime. 

Last month, the Department of Justice released national statistics showing the rate of hate crimes increasing 6.1% across the country. Most hate crimes in the United States during that year were motivated against race, ethnicity or ancestry, which accounted for 65.4% of reported incidents. That was followed by religion at 15.5% and sexual orientation at 13.9%, according to the Justice Dept. report. 

In Texas in 2020, hate crimes did decline slightly from the previous year, decreasing almost 10% from 459 in 2019 to 411 in 2020.  

Texas’ statistics on hate crimes bucks national trends, however. The Lone Star State since 2017 has consistently seen more hate crimes targeting sexual orientation and gender identity than hate crimes motivated by religion. When religion was the focus of the hate crime, 59% were against Jews. 

Still, hate crimes are often under-reported to both federal and local law enforcement, which is why the FBI is putting out a public campaign to raise awareness. The campaign was launched with billboards and posters places across the region and digital billboards at high-traffic areas such as Dallas Love Field and the Dallas-Fort Worth International airport. A series of radio and web-based advertisements are also featured in the campaign. 

All of the campaign’s media encourages viewers to “protect our communities together” by reporting hate crimes to the FBI hotline, 1-800-CALL-FBI, or online on the bureau’s tip website. Reports may remain anonymous, the F.B.I. said. 

According to the FBI, 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.

“One of the FBI’s top priorities is to defend the civil rights of the communities we serve. We actively work with our law enforcement partners to investigate hate crimes and achieve justice for victims impacted by violence,” said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. DeSarno. “The FBI wants to reassure the public that we will pursue individuals who commit violent, hateful acts against any member of our community.”