FBI Releases 2016 "So-Called" Hate Crime Statistics

Image from the Oakland Post

Today the FBI released Hate Crime Statistics, 2016, the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program’s latest compilation about bias-motivated incidents throughout the nation. Submitted by 15,254 law enforcement agencies, the 2016 data provide information about the offenses, victims, offenders, and locations of hate crimes.

Law enforcement agencies submitted incident reports involving 6,121 criminal incidents and 7,321 related offenses as being motivated by bias toward race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, and gender identity. Please note the UCR Program does not estimate offenses for the jurisdictions of agencies that do not submit reports. Highlights of Hate Crime Statistics, 2016, follow.

Victims of Hate Crime Incidents

• There were 6,063 single-bias incidents involving 7,509 victims. A percent distribution of victims by bias type showed that 58.9 percent of victims were targeted because of the offenders’ race/ethnicity/ancestry bias; 21.1 percent were targeted because of the offenders’ religious bias; 16.7 percent were victimized because of the offenders’ sexual-orientation bias; 1.7 percent were targeted because of the offenders’ gender identity bias; 1.0 percent were victimized because of the offenders’ disability bias; and 0.5 percent were victimized because of the offenders’ gender bias. (Due to rounding, percentage breakdowns may not add to 100.0 percent.)
• Fifty-eight (58) multiple-bias hate crime incidents involved 106 victims.

Offenses by Crime Category

• Of the 4,720 hate crime offenses classified as crimes against persons in 2016, 44.7 percent were for intimidation, 35.7 percent were for simple assault, and 18.5 percent were for aggravated assault. Nine murders and 24 rapes (all from agencies that collected data using the revised definition of rape) were reported as hate crimes. The remaining 18 hate crime offenses were reported in the category of other.
• There were 2,519 hate crime offenses classified as crimes against property. The majority of these (75.9 percent) were acts of destruction/damage/vandalism. Robbery, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, and other offenses accounted for the remaining 24.1 percent of crimes against property.
• Eighty-two (82) additional offenses were classified as crimes against society. This crime category represents society’s prohibition against engaging in certain types of activity such as gambling, prostitution, and drug violations. These are typically victimless crimes in which property is not the object.

Known Offenders
In the UCR Program, the term known offender does not imply that the suspect’s identity is known; rather, the term indicates that some aspect of the suspect was identified, thus distinguishing the suspect from an unknown offender. Law enforcement agencies specify the number of offenders and, when possible, the race of the offender or offenders as a group. Beginning in 2013, law enforcement officers could also report whether suspects were juveniles or adults, as well as the suspect’s ethnicity when possible.

• Of the 5,770 known offenders, 46.3 percent were White, and 26.1 percent were Black or African American. Other races accounted for the remaining known offenders: 0.8 percent were Asian; 0.8 percent were American Indian or Alaska Native; 0.1 percent were Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; and 7.7 percent were of a group of multiple races. The race was unknown for 18.1 percent.
• Of the 4,222 known offenders for whom ethnicity was reported, 26.1 percent were Not Hispanic or Latino, 8.0 percent were Hispanic or Latino, and 2.3 percent were in a group of multiple ethnicities. Ethnicity was unknown for 63.6 percent of these offenders.
• Of the 4,100 known offenders for whom ages were known, 83.8 percent were 18 years of age or older.

Locations of Hate Crimes
Law enforcement agencies may specify the location of an offense within a hate crime incident as 1 of 46 location designations. In 2016, most hate crime incidents (27.3 percent) occurred in or near residences/homes. More than 18 percent (18.4) occurred on highways/roads/alleys/streets/sidewalks; 9.9 percent occurred at schools/colleges; 5.7 percent happened at parking/drop lots/garages; and 3.9 percent took place in churches/synagogues/temples/mosques. The location was reported as other/unknown for 12.7 percent of hate crime incidents. The remaining 22.1 percent of hate crime incidents took place at other or multiple locations.

Hate Crime Statistics, 2016, is available exclusively on the FBI’s website at https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2016.