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According to the Associated Press, more than 2,500 agencies across the country have not reported any hate crimes to the Federal Bureau of Investigation over the past six years. Not one. The AP conducted its analysis by looking at six years worth of FBI hate crime reports (2009-2014), and they matched those cases against “lists of every city and county law enforcement agency in each state.”
Now, before you chime in with, “Perhaps no hate crime was committed,” consider this:
An analysis revealed that law enforcement reporting is spotty even beyond the more than 2,700 agencies that never filed even a single hate crime report. For example, thousands of city police and county sheriff's departments — which handle the vast majority of local law enforcement responses and investigations — reported in some years but not others. And, in some cases, departments reported for, say, only one quarter of a year without submitting reports covering the rest of that span.
Some agencies said they thought they were reporting, even though they were not, and some thought they didn't have to file reports because they hadn't investigated any hate crimes. Others that oversee jails might have assumed they were exempt because they don't patrol the streets, but the FBI encourages reporting by all law enforcement agencies whose officers are empowered to make arrests.
The vast majority of the departments that did not file any reports during the six-year period represented small towns, often consisting of just a few thousand residents or less. But the list also included the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office, which handles law enforcement in a heavily populated and sprawling region around Portland, Oregon.
A number of larger cities with a history of racial troubles also were missing, including Birmingham, Alabama; Jackson, Mississippi; and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
While it is important to note that reporting such information to the FBI is completely voluntary, the data is still important.
Advocates worry that the lack of a comprehensive, annual accounting disguises the extent of bias crimes at a time of heightened racial, religious and ethnic tensions. ... community groups have reported a notable increase in violence against Muslims and mosques in the wake of last year's terror acts in Paris and San Bernardino, California. Gay and transgender people also are regular targets.
A better accounting of hate crimes, the FBI and other proponents say, would not only increase awareness but also boost efforts to combat such crimes with more resources for law enforcement training and community outreach.
The Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center, which track hate groups and their activities, have also weighed in, stating the need for increased reporting. The need for the reporting is also a two-way street: Many victims of hate crimes do no always report the crimes. That also needs to change.
The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics projected that just 40 percent of the "hate crime victimizations" it recorded in 2012 were reported to authorities. Among the top reasons given for staying silent, the agency said: fears of reprisals, a feeling that "police could not or would not help," or the incident being considered a personal or private matter.
In recent years, members of the Sikh community have been targeted by attackers who, in some cases, confused them with Muslims because of their turbans or other head coverings. But S. Gulbarg Singh Basi, chairman of the American Sikh Council, said that some in his community fear that reporting those incidents might invite even more hate crimes.
"'Keep your eyes closed and the problem will go away,'" said Basi. "I'm not saying that is right, but quite a few people think that."
Keeping your eyes closed will definitely not make the problems go away. But Daily Kos readers already know that.