FBI Hate Crime Statistics 1996
On January 8, 1998, the FBI released the following
hate crime statistics for 1996:
During 1996, 8,759 bias-motivated criminal incidents
were reported to the FBI by the 11,354 law enforcement agencies in 49
states and the District of Columbia which voluntarily participated under
the Hate Crimes Statistics Act of 1990. These agencies represent 223
million United States inhabitants, or 84 percent of the population.
Of the 8,759 incidents reported, an actual total of 10,706 offenses
occurred, with a reported number of 11,039 hate crime victims.
In response to the Hate Crimes Statistics Act of 1990,
the Attorney General designated the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR)
Program to develop and implement a data collection system for its voluntary
law enforcement agency participants. The FBI first released hate crime
statistics in January, 1993, furnishing data regarding hate crime incidents
which occurred in 1991.
The agencies participating in the hate crime data
collection program in 1996 submitted summary and incident-based data
to the FBI either through state-level UCR Programs or directly from
individual agencies in states without Programs. The number of participating
agencies which submitted statistical data for the year 1996 represents
an increase of more than 18 percent over the 1995 agency participation
level. Due to the substantial increase in the number of participating
law enforcement agencies, an accurate comparison between the data submitted
for 1995 and 1996 is not feasible.
Of the 8,759 reported incidents, 5,396 were motivated
by racial bias; 1,401 by religious bias; 1,016 by sexual-orientation
bias; 940 by ethnicity/national origin bias; and 6 by multiple biases.
Crimes against persons composed 69 percent of the
10,706 offenses reported. Intimidation was the single most frequently
reported hate crime among all offenses measured, accounting for 39 percent
of the total. Destruction/damage/vandalism of property accounted for
27 percent of the total; followed by simple assault at 16 percent and
aggravated assault at 13 percent.
Eight of every 10 of the 11,039 reported hate crime
victims were individuals, while the remaining victims were businesses,
religious organizations, or various other targets. Six of every 10 victims
were attacked because of their race, with bias against blacks accounting
for 42 percent of the total. Of the total number of victims of religious
bias crimes, 66 percent of victims were targets of crimes against property.
In 1996, the majority of hate crime incidents, 31
percent, occurred in/on residential properties. Incidents perpetrated
on highways/roads/alleys/streets accounted for 21 percent, while 9 percent
occurred at schools or colleges. The remaining incidents were widely
distributed among various locations.
Although not sufficient to allow valid national or
regional measures of the volume and types of hate crimes, these data
offer a perspective on the general nature of hate crime occurrences.
Source: FBI
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