FBI Releases 2009 Hate Crime Statistics
FBI National Press Office, Nov. 22, 2010
Today, the FBI
released 2009 statistics which indicated that 6,604 criminal incidents
involving 7,789 offenses were reported as a result of bias toward a
particular race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity/national
origin, or physical or mental disability. Hate Crime Statistics, 2009, published by the FBI‘s Uniform Crime Reporting Program, includes data from hate crime reports submitted by law enforcement agencies throughout the nation.
Hate Crime Statistics, 2009, includes the following information:
- Of the 6,598 single-bias incidents, 48.5 percent were motivated
by a racial bias, 19.7 percent were motivated by a religious bias,
18.5 percent were motivated by a sexual-orientation bias, and 11.8
percent were motivated by an ethnicity/national origin bias. Bias
against a disability accounted for 1.5 percent of single-bias
incidents.
- There were 4,793 hate crime offenses classified as crimes against persons in 2009. Intimidation accounted for 45.0 percent of crimes
against persons, simple assaults for 35.3 percent, and aggravated
assaults for 19.1 percent. Other offenses, including nine forcible
rapes and eight murders, accounted for the remainder.
- There were 2,970 hate crime offenses classified as crimes against property; most of these (83.0 percent) were acts of destruction/damage/vandalism. The remaining 17.0 percent of crimes against property consisted of robbery, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, and other offenses.
- An analysis of data for single-bias hate crime
incident victims revealed that 48.8 percent were targeted because of
the offender’s bias against a race, 18.9 percent because of a bias
against a religious belief, 17.8 percent because of a sexual orientation
bias, 13.3 percent because of an ethnicity/national origin bias, and
1.2 percent because of a disability bias.
- Of the 6,225 known offenders, 62.4 percent were white, 18.5 percent
were black, 7.3 percent were groups made up of individuals of various
races (multiple races, group), 1.0 percent were American Indian/Alaskan
Native, and 0.7 percent were Asian/Pacific Islander. The race was
unknown for the remaining known offenders.
- The largest percentage (31.3 percent) of hate crime
incidents occurred in or near homes. In addition, 17.2 percent took
place on highways, roads, alleys, or streets; 11.4 percent happened at
schools or colleges; 6.1 percent in parking lots or garages; and 4.3
percent in churches, synagogues, or temples. The remaining 29.7 percent
of hate crime incidents took place at other specified locations, multiple locations, or other/unknown locations.
Hate Crime Statistics, 2009 is available exclusively on the FBI‘s website. Printed copies of the publication are no longer available.
