National Center for Hate Crime Prevention Education Development Center, Inc. United States Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime

for

Law Enforcement and Victim Assistance

Professionals

R e s p o n d i n g t o

A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Advocating for the Fair Treatment of Crime Victims

-
Responding to Hate Crime: Appendix

A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

For Law Enforcement

and

Victim Assistance Professionals

National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Education Development Center, Inc.

Funded by the United States Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime
For more information on using this curriculum or for assistance with

the issue of hate crime, please call or write:

National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Education Development Center, Inc.

55 Chapel Street

Newton, MA 02458-1060

(800) 225-4276 or (617) 969-7100

www.edc.org/HHD/hatecrime/

This curriculum was developed under a project funded by the Office for

Victims of Crime (OVC), United States Department of Justice (award

#96-MU-MU-K001). It is a revision of an earlier curriculum, the

National Bias Crimes Training Manual, co-authored by Education

Development Center, Inc. (EDC) and the Massachusetts Criminal Justice

Training Council and co-funded by OVC and the Bureau of Justice

Assistance. Points of view in this document are those of the authors

and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the

U.S. Department of Justice.

Cite as: McLaughlin, K. A., Malloy, S. M., Brilliant, K. J., & Lang, C.

(2000). Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum for

Law Enforcement and Victim Assistance Professionals. Newton, MA:

National Center for Hate Crime Prevention, Education Development

Center, Inc.

Copyright © February 2000 by the National Center for Hate Crime Prevention,

Education Development Center, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a

retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,

photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Education

Development Center, Inc. This restriction shall not apply to the transparencies and

handouts accompanying the text and intended for duplication.
Acknowledgments

EDC gratefully acknowledges the contribution of the many professionals who

contributed to the development of the original curriculum and to this revision, as well

as the faculty, grant monitors, advisors, researchers, practitioners, law enforcement

officials, victim assistance professionals, victims, and others who have contributed so

generously to develop and improve professional training opportunities in the area of

hate crime response and prevention. We are inspired by your diligence and courage in

such a critical endeavor.
i

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Project Grantee and Advisors

Project Grantee

Education Development Center, Inc.

National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

55 Chapel Street

Newton, MA 02458-1060

Karen A. McLaughlin

Project Director

(617) 969-7100, x2360

Albertha Walley

Senior Administrative Assistant

(617) 969-7100, x2534

E-mail: awalley@edc.org

Special Thanks

United States Department of Justice

Office for Victims of Crime

Kathryn M. Turman, Director

Sue Shriner, Program Specialist

Tim Johnson, Program Specialist

Duane Ragan, Program Analyst

Civil Rights Division, Criminal Section

Jessica A. Ginsberg, Deputy Chief

Office of the Deputy Attorney General

Allyson Stollenwerck, Special Assistant

Office of Policy Development

Lisa R. Graves, Senior Counsel

FBI Criminal Investigative Division

Owen Harris, Supervisor Special Agent

The following individuals assisted in the development of the original curriculum and training

program:

Chief Robert P. Anthony

William D. Baker

Donna Bonaparte

William Bratton

Kevin M. Burke

Richard Cole

Brian Daley

Drew Diamond

Sgt. Brian Flynn

Chief Edward Flynn

Alice M. Foley

Lucy Friedman

Sally Greenberg

Bea Hanson

Sgt. John K. Henderson

William Johnston

Hon. Maria Lopez

Jack McDevitt

Hon. Paul L. McGill

Albert Mokhiber

Dr. Brian Kenji Ogawa

John A. Schuyler

Adele Dutton Terrell

Hon. Irene Toledo

Robert E. Weinerman

Dan Welch
ii

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Staff

Staff for Second Edition*

Karen A. McLaughlin

Project Director

Stephanie Malloy

Writer/Editor

Lorena Martinez-Diaz

Research Assistant

Osula Evadne Rushing

Project Associate

Ronnie DiComo

Jennifer Roscoe

Jeanine M. Reed

Graphic Designers

Jennifer Davis-Kay

Copy Editor

Original Authors, First Edition*

Karen A. McLaughlin

Cynthia Lang

Kelly A. Brilliant

* This curriculum is a revision of an earlier version entitled the National Bias Crime

Training Manual.
Table of Contents

Project Grantee and Advisors ................................................................................................................ i

Staff ...................................................................................................................................................... ii

Guide to Using This Curriculum .......................................................................................................... 1

Purpose of the Training .......................................................................................................................................... 1

Key Features of the Training Approach................................................................................................................ 2

Organization of the Curriculum ............................................................................................................................. 3

Preparations for Sponsoring and Conducting the Training ............................................................................... 4

Planning for Individual Sessions........................................................................................................................... 5

Overview of Sessions: At a Glance........................................................................................................................ 7

Session A: Introduction and Overview: Defining and Recognizing Bias Crime................................11

I. Activity: Introductions .................................................................................................................................. 12

II. Presentation: Overview of Bias Crime ........................................................................................................ 12

III. Presentation: Introduction to Bias Crime Indicators................................................................................. 14

IV. Activity: Application to a Case .................................................................................................................... 18

V. Closing Comments .......................................................................................................................................... 20

Session B: Victim Impact ................................................................................................................... 31

I. Presentation: Overview of Victim Trauma ................................................................................................. 32

II. Activity: Analysis of Video Segments ........................................................................................................ 32

III. Presentation: Unique Features of Bias Crimes and Their Impact on Bias Crime Victims .................... 33

IV. Victim Presentation and Discussion ............................................................................................................. 36

Session C: Bias Crime Offenders........................................................................................................ 47

I. Presentation: Offender Typology ................................................................................................................. 48

II. Presentation: Organized Hate Groups ......................................................................................................... 54

III. Activity: Analysis of Three Video Segments.............................................................................................. 56

Session D: Bias Crime and the Law ................................................................................................... 69

I. Presentation: Introduction to Federal and State Laws.............................................................................. 70

II. Activity: Criminal Law Case Application and Discussion ........................................................................ 80

III. Optional Activity: Drafting Civil Rights Injunctions ................................................................................ 86

IV. Presentation: Emerging Legal Issues ........................................................................................................... 90

Session E: Roles of Law Enforcement and Victim Assistance Professionals.................................... 115

I. Activity: Discussion of the Roles, Responsibilities, and Unique Challenges in Responding to

Bias Crimes .................................................................................................................................................... 116

II. Presentation: Investigative Strategies ....................................................................................................... 118

III. Presentation: Advocacy on Behalf of Victims and Their Families (15 minutes) ................................. 122

Session F: Cultural Issues and Community Strategies for Dealing with Bias Crime ..................... 133

I. Presentation: Defining Culture and Why It Matters in Dealing with Bias Crime ............................... 134

II. Activity: Culture and Heritage ................................................................................................................... 135

III. Presentation: Implications of Culture and Diversity for Bias Crime..................................................... 136

IV. Presentation: Community Impact and Outreach ..................................................................................... 141

Appendix A: A Model Hate Crime Protocol .................................................................................... 157

Appendix B: State Bias Crimes Statutory Provisions..................................................................... 175

Appendix C: Bias Crimes Statutes and Related Provisions Nationwide ........................................ 177

Appendix D: Resources ................................................................................................................... 185

Bias Crime Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................... 185

Websites Relevant to Bias Crime ....................................................................................................................... 191
1

 Guide to Using This Curriculum

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Guide to Using This Curriculum

Bias crimes seriously threaten our democratic society, which is built on the strength of

its diversity. These crimes represent a particularly heinous form of violence, in which

thousands of Americans are victimized each year because of their skin color, ethnicity,

religion, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. Growing concern exists around the

country, in communities large and small, urban, suburban, and rural, about the

prevalence of bias crime. Swift and effective investigation, prosecution, and response

to these crimes is critical for developing and maintaining both respect for and

appreciation of the growing diversity of our country’s citizens.

This training package builds on the best efforts and practices to date, identified by

national experts in law enforcement, victim assistance, and hate crime prevention and

response. This curriculum differs from others in that it is intended for a multidisciplinary training audience, including law enforcement officers, victim advocates,

and community-based organizations. It was field-tested to ensure its relevance to both

victim assistance and law enforcement professionals and its user-friendliness. The

results are reflected in the approach and materials presented here in this curriculum.

Purpose of the Training

Professionals in the fields of both law enforcement and victim assistance feel a

growing desire to better respond to victims of bias crime and to work together more

effectively. With the increased national awareness of the need to recognize and

respond to these crimes, and with the growing number of states enacting hate crime

legislation, professionals in these fields express a need for up-to-date training that is

multidisciplinary in nature.

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum was developed to meet this

need. Its focus is capacity building, and its purpose is to strengthen the knowledge

and skills of individual professionals in law enforcement and victim assistance.

Specifically, it is designed to do the following:

• Provide law enforcement officials with up-to-date information and strategies to use

in identifying bias crimes and in taking appropriate actions to deter and investigate

these crimes

• Provide victim assistance professionals with up-to-date information and strategies

to use in assisting bias crime victims

• Strengthen the capacity of professionals in both fields to contribute to successful

investigation and prosecution of bias crime, and contribute to changing the

community norms that presently foster a tolerance to and indifference towards

these crimes

• Provide professionals in both fields with the perspectives and strategies to work

more effectively within their own departments and agencies, with one another, and

within their communities
2

Guide to Using This Curriculum

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Key Features of the Training Approach

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum is a six-session training

program. Several characteristics central to its design are important to understand.

Integrated Audience

The curriculum is designed for an integrated audience of law enforcement and victim

assistance professionals. Since a major training goal is to provide a forum where

professionals from these two fields can learn from one another, most of the sessions

are structured either for the entire audience, or smaller integrated groups of representatives from each field. The pilot test showed that a major benefit for participants is the

chance to interact and learn, side by side, with professionals from their own and one

another’s fields.

Comprehensive Approach

This curriculum was developed to address the range of issues relevant to bias crime:

deterrence and prevention, the needs of victims and the community, and the ability of

the criminal justice system to investigate, report, and prosecute these crimes. It was

also developed in a modular format to enable local jurisdictions to adapt and

customize their own trainings based on their particular needs and time constraints.

Interactive Style

The curriculum is designed to take into account the characteristics of adult learners.

Participants respond best and learn most in a forum that fosters discussion and

interactive learning. Therefore, the training is designed to promote discussion and

interaction. Activities have been developed and selected to provide the greatest

opportunities for skill building in the most comfortable manner.

Law enforcement and victim assistance professionals collectively bring a broad base of

knowledge and experience to the training. Several activities in this curriculum provide

an opportunity for law enforcement and victim assistance professionals to solve

problems together.

Case Studies

The cases used in this curriculum are adapted from actual criminal cases gathered from

police departments and prosecutor’s offices. Names and addresses have been changed

to preserve anonymity. Cases were specially selected to illustrate various aspects of

bias crime and provide authenticity to enhance group discussions. In adapting this

curriculum for local use, instructors may change the type of victimization, locales,

and/or names used in the cases to reflect their regions.
3

 Guide to Using This Curriculum

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Organization of the Curriculum

Each session is organized as follows:

• Overview: Shows, at a glance, the content, method, and suggested time

allotted to each part of the session

• Objectives: Details the anticipated learning outcomes of each session

• Time: Specifies the amount of time required for the session

• Videos: Lists videos to be obtained and previewed before leading the session,

where applicable

• Notes to the Instructor: Highlights important points that instructors should

make, and provides special instructions for implementing each session or

activity

• Instructor’s Notes: Presents the content for the session, describes the

methodology (e.g., presentation, activity, case discussion), and includes a

discussion framework and key questions, directions for conducting activities,

and any other background information that will be useful to instructors as they

conduct the training or review key topics

• Transparencies and Handouts: Presents in each session hard copy pages,

marked and coded, that can be copied onto overhead transparency sheets or for

distribution as handouts; often, a more expanded version of a transparency’s

text will appear in the Instructor’s Notes

To assist instructors, the curriculum uses a series of icons to show when videos,

transparencies, handouts, case studies, and flipcharts will be used during the course of

each session. These icons are as follows:

Flipchart Video

Transparency Handout

Case Study Case study
4

Guide to Using This Curriculum

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Preparations for Sponsoring and Conducting

the Training

Cosponsoring the Training

It is recommended that this training be jointly sponsored by a law enforcement agency

and victim service agency.

Recruitment of Instructors

Instructors for the training can be recruited from any of the following organizations:

• Local police department, sheriff’s department, or other law enforcement

agency

• Federal Bureau of Investigation

• Community Relations Service of the Department of Justice

• United States Attorney’s office

• State Attorney General’s office

• County Prosecuting Attorney’s office

• Legal advocacy organizations

• National victim organizations

• State victim assistance agencies

• Victim advocacy organizations

• Mental health organizations

• Universities with programs in criminal justice

• Community-based/civil rights organizations

Instructors should have the following background:

• Diversity training

• Awareness and understanding of the impact of bias crime and the need for

effective responses

• Experience in conducting training with law enforcement and/or victim

assistance professionals

Instructors should also be representative of the community and should be diverse in

terms of cultural background, gender, and professional affiliation.

Recruitment of Participants

Participants from law enforcement and victim services may be recruited from the same

list of agencies and departments utilized for recruiting instructors. Participants should

be balanced in terms of:

• cultural background and gender

• professional affiliation

• level of experience
5

 Guide to Using This Curriculum

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Planning for Individual Sessions

Planning for Session B: Victim Impact

This session incorporates a presentation from an actual victim of a bias crime.

The purpose of the presentation is as follows:

• To demonstrate the impact of a bias crime on the victim

• To make the trauma experienced by the victim real to participants

• To reinforce the fact that bias crimes occur within the local community

The instructor may be able to recruit a victim from the following agencies or

departments:

• Police department

• Prosecutor’s office

• Victim service agency

• Advocacy organization

The following are important issues to address before recruiting a victim:

• Victim’s need for confidentiality and/or privacy

• Status of the victim’s case in court

• Time frame of the victim’s trauma (i.e., was this a recent attack?)

• Need for an interpreter/translator

• Access and logistic arrangements (e.g., the victim may be physically

challenged and/or in need of an access ramp to the training facility)

The victim should be given ample notice that he or she will be speaking to a group and

addressing the following issues:

• The victim’s personal experience as a victim

• The impact the bias crime had on the victim—physical, emotional, financial,

or otherwise

• The response of the criminal justice system

• The response of other professionals, friends, and family

• The victim’s recommendations for improving the response to bias crime

By bringing along a support person, the victim may feel more comfortable in the

presentation.

Planning for Session D: Bias Crime and the Law

For this session, you will need obtain copies of your state’s criminal, civil, and

reporting laws covering bias crime. You should then create transparencies highlighting

the primary elements of these laws. You may also wish to develop handouts that

contain full or partial text of the laws.

This session includes six cases that should be reviewed prior to the session by the

instructor in light of the relevant state statutes. Each case is followed by a list of

questions for instructors to review with participants. Suggested answers are provided
6

Guide to Using This Curriculum

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

for most of these questions. However, some of the answers depend upon individual

state laws. Therefore, instructors should review the questions and prepare state-specific

answers to those questions that require them.

In the interest of time, instructors may choose to use only those cases that best suit the

experience level of the audience. However, the cases should be discussed in sequence

whenever possible, because they grow progressively more complex and more legally

ambiguous.

Ordering Videos

The video segments for the curriculum were selected by experts in the area of bias

crime from the fields of law enforcement, victim assistance, and curriculum development. The videos chosen were selected from a pool of videos that were screened and

rated on the relevance of their content, the quality of production, and the timeliness of

events portrayed.

Videos should be ordered at least four to six weeks in advance of the training.

Information on purchasing or renting videos is included in each session, where

applicable.
7

 Guide to Using This Curriculum

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

OVERVIEW OF SESSIONS: AT A GLANCE

Session A: Introduction and Overview:

Defining and Recognizing Bias Crime

Overview Time

Activity: Introductions 10 minutes

Presentation: Overview of Bias Crime 20 minutes

Presentation: Introduction to Bias Crime Indicators 15 minutes

Activity: Application to a Case 25 minutes

Closing Comments 5 minutes

TOTAL TIME 1 hour, 15 minutes

Equipment: Overhead projector; screen; flipchart

Session B: Victim Impact

Overview Time

Presentation: Overview of Victim Trauma 5 minutes

Activity: Analysis of Video Segments 20 minutes

Presentation: Unique Features of Bias Crime and 15 minutes

Its Impact on Bias Crime Victims

Victim Presentation and Discussion 20 minutes

TOTAL TIME 60 minutes

Equipment: Overhead projector; screen; flipchart; VCR; monitor
8

Guide to Using This Curriculum

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Session C: Bias Crime Offenders

Overview Time

Presentation: Offender Typology 30 minutes

Presentation: Organized Hate Groups 15 minutes

Activity: Analysis of Three Video Segments 45 minutes

TOTAL TIME 90 minutes

Equipment: Overhead projector; screen; flipchart; VCR; monitor

Session D: Bias Crime and the Law

Overview Time

Presentation: Introduction to Federal and State Laws 30 minutes

Activity: Criminal Law Case Application and Discussion 30 minutes

Optional Activity: Drafting Civil Rights Injunctions 20 minutes

Presentation: Emerging Legal Issues 10 minutes

TOTAL TIME 90 minutes

Equipment: Overhead projector; screen
9

 Guide to Using This Curriculum

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Session E: Roles of Law Enforcement and

Victim Assistance Professionals

Overview Time

Activity: Discussion of Roles, Responsibilities, and 20 minutes

Unique Challenges in Responding to Bias Crimes

Presentation: Investigative Strategies 25 minutes

Presentation: Advocacy on Behalf of Victims 15 minutes

and Their Families

TOTAL TIME 60 minutes

Equipment: Flipchart; markers; overhead projector; screen

Session F: Cultural Issues and Community Strategies

for Dealing with Bias Crime

Overview Time

Presentation: Defining Culture and Why It Matters in 15 minutes

Dealing with Bias Crime

Activity: Culture and Heritage 15 minutes

Presentation: Implications of Culture and Diversity for 20 minutes

Bias Crime

Presentation: Community Impact and Outreach 10 minutes

TOTAL TIME 60 minutes

Equipment: Overhead projector; screen; flipchart
10

Guide to Using This Curriculum

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum
Activity: Introductions 10 minutes

Presentation: Overview of Bias Crime 20 minutes

Presentation: Introduction to Bias Crime Indicators 15 minutes

Activity: Application to a Case 25 minutes

Closing Comments 5 minutes

TOTAL TIME 1 hour, 15 minutes

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Discuss the seriousness of bias crime in terms of its impact

on the individual and the community

• Explain why bias crime requires a special response from law

enforcement and victim service professionals

• Understand the scope of the problem and the limitations of

existing data

• Define the term “bias crime indicator”

• Describe the purpose of bias indicators and how they are used

• Evaluate a case example to determine which bias indicators

are present

Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Handouts: Bias Crime Indicators; The Case of Steven

Thompkins and Henry Briggs

Transparencies: Key Points on Bias Crimes; Hate Crimes and

Agencies Reporting (1992–1998); Bias Motivation Trends (1992–

1998); Definition of a Bias Crime Indicator; Indicator Cautions

Video (optional): “Responding to Hate Crimes: A Roll Call

Training Video for Police Officers,” International Association of

Chiefs of Police

Equipment: Overhead projector; screen; flipchart

Session

A Introduction and Overview:

Defining and Recognizing Bias Crime

 Materials and Equipment

 Objectives

 Overview of the Session: At a Glance
12

Session A. Introduction and Overview: Defining and Recognizing Bias Crime

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

I. Activity: Introductions (10 minutes)

Deliver welcoming remarks, introduce sponsoring agencies and any visiting guest

speakers, and present the purpose of the training: to enhance professional capacity

in responding to bias crime.

Invite participants to turn to their fellow participants and introduce themselves.

Ask them to discuss briefly with one another how they would define a bias crime

and to give an example of a bias incident or crime they have dealt with either

personally or professionally. Invite a few volunteers to share their experiences with

the group.

II. Presentation: Overview of Bias Crime

(20 minutes)

This is a short lecture presentation, to convey key points. Use

Transparency A1, “Key Points on Bias Crime,” as an outline for your

presentation.

KEY POINTS ON BIAS CRIME

Overview of Bias Crime

• The Federal Hate Crime Statistics Act defines bias

crime as crime “motivated, in whole or in part, by

hatred against a victim based on his or her race,

religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin,

or disability.”

• Constitutional protections are guaranteed to all

Americans, yet some individuals are victimized,

sometimes subtly and at other times very overtly, for

no reason other than the color of their skin, the

religion they profess, the heritage of their parents, or

their sexual orientation. It is most unsettling to the

victims because there is nothing they can do to alter

the situation, nor is there anything they should be

expected to change.

• Not only is the individual who is personally touched

by these offenses victimized, but the entire class of

individuals residing in the community is affected

as well.

• Federal laws and state statutes protect individuals

from bias crime and provide a basis for prosecution

of offenders.

Instructor’s Notes

Note to Instructor

The terms “bias crime”

and “hate crime” are

used interchangeably

throughout this

curriculum.

The major idea to

convey in the beginning

of this session is that

bias crime—because of

its very nature, its

impact on victims and

the community, and the

inherent difficulties in

identifying and

prosecuting these

crimes—demands a

special response on the

part of law enforcement

and victim assistance

professionals. The goal

of this curriculum is to

help professionals in

both fields understand

the complex issues

inherent in these tragic

incidents and become

better equipped to

respond effectively.
13

Session A. Introduction and Overview: Defining and Recognizing Bias Crime

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Note to Instructor

Bias Crimes: Unique Challenges to Professionals

• Because of their unique psychological impact on the victim, bias

crimes can have a more devastating effect than other crimes—on

both the victim and the victim’s community.

• Bias crimes are considered “message crimes”—crimes that send a

message of fear and terror, based on a foundation of bigotry.

• Bias crimes have an impact on the victim’s community. As a

result, a seemingly insignificant incident can exacerbate existing

tension within the community, with the potential for reprisals

and escalating violence.

• Therefore, bias crimes demand a special response from law

enforcement and victim assistance professionals. Victims of bias

crime often suffer serious and long-lasting traumatic stress that

can be made worse by an inappropriate response.

Scope of Bias Crime1

• Prior to 1990, no comprehensive source of bias crime incidence

data existed in the United States, due in part to differences in

defining, reporting, and compiling incidents of bias crime in

different states.

• To remedy this lack of reporting, the federal government enacted

the Hate Crime Statistics Act in 1990.

• Currently, state law enforcement agencies and police

departments collect and document bias crimes in different ways.

Gradually, agencies have become better about documenting and

reporting bias crimes; the latest FBI report lauds the efforts of

state and local law enforcement agencies in helping to create a

more thorough and comprehensive data set.

• From 1992–1998, an average of over 8,000 hate crimes were

reported to the FBI each year. Transparency A2 shows the data

for each year, as well as the number of law enforcement

agencies reporting.

• Of the reported hate crimes from 1992–1998, 61 percent were

motivated by racial bias, 17 percent by religious bias, 12 percent

by sexual orientation bias, and 10 percent by ethnicity/national

origin bias. Bias crimes against people with disabilities

accounted for less than 1 percent of hate crimes in 1997 and

1998, the first years for which this data was collected.2

• Advocacy groups have also done exemplary work in documenting bias crimes and incidents (e.g., the Anti-Defamation League,

National Urban League, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force,

American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Committee

Against Anti-Asian Violence, Asian Law Caucus, Japanese

American Citizens League, National Institute Against Prejudice

A2

The definition of hate

crime used here is from

the Hate Crime

Statistics Act.

Explain to participants

that federal and state

laws define hate crime

differently and include

different protected

categories.

A comprehensive review

of the legal issues

regarding the definition

of hate crime can be

found in Session D, Bias

Crime and the Law.

A3
14

Session A. Introduction and Overview: Defining and Recognizing Bias Crime

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

and Violence, and others). These data supplement the FBI

data and also indicate that many hate crimes are not

reported to law enforcement and/or are not prosecuted as

hate crimes.

• Although some data problems do exist and it is currently

impossible to say with certainty what the incidence of bias

crime is nationally, it is important to remember that these

crimes have a significant impact in several areas:

– the victim

– the community

– our democratic society, civil rights, and protections

These crimes threaten the well-being of our society. Although the

attacks may vary widely in their severity, the impact on the broader

community is profound.

III. Presentation: Introduction to Bias Crime

Indicators (15 minutes)

Explain what bias indicators are:

• The clues that law enforcement professionals look for in determining if a case should be investigated as a bias crime

• The guidelines that shape the investigative process

Confirm that, ultimately, the determination that a crime is a bias crime

will be based on the facts of the case. Bias indicators suggest a

possibility, not a legal certainty.

Explain to participants that bias crime indicators assist law enforcement

in confirming that a particular crime was in fact motivated by the

offender’s bias. The identification and confirmation of prejudice

motivation must be made for five primary reasons:3

1. Successful prosecution

2. Proper law enforcement and victim assistance response to victims

and communities

3. Development of effective prevention programs and strategies

4. Accurate data collection to inform research, legislation, and public

policy

5. Victim and community awareness and understanding

Note to Instructor

Explain to participants

that because reporting is

voluntary and because

many hate crimes are

either unrecognized by

law enforcement or

unreported by victims,

the number of reported

hate crimes is probably

much lower than the

actual number of hate

crimes. However, hate

crime data is still useful

in that it documents the

existence of hate crime,

enables professionals

and policymakers to

examine trends, and

helps identify which

groups are most likely to

be victimized. This is

also a good opportunity

to encourage participants to improve their

local practices of recognizing and reporting

hate crimes and to

collect good local data

that will enable them to

address the problem in

their communities.
15

Session A. Introduction and Overview: Defining and Recognizing Bias Crime

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Review the formal definition of bias indicators, using Transparency A4, “Definition

of a Bias Crime Indicator.”

DEFINITION OF A BIAS CRIME INDICATOR

Objective facts, circumstances, or patterns attending a criminal act(s), which,

standing alone or in conjunction with other facts or circumstances, suggest that

the offender’s actions were motivated, in whole or in part, by any form of bias.

—Massachusetts Model Protocol for Bias Crime Investigation

Distribute Handout A1, “Bias Crime Indicators,” and give participants

several minutes to review the handout. Remind participants that the

indicators (on the handout and listed below) are not inclusive, nor does

the presence of one confirm the presence of bias. All cases should be

investigated and evaluated on an individual basis. The following

factors may indicate the possibility of a bias motivation.

Explain that bias indicators need not establish that the predominant

motivation for an offender’s actions was hatred or bias. An incident

can be classified as a bias crime if the offender was acting out of hatred

or bias, together with other motives, or if a bias motive was a contributing factor, in whole or in part, in the commission of a criminal act.

BIAS CRIME INDICATORS4

Racial, Ethnic, Gender, and/or Cultural

Differences

• The race, religion, ethnicity/national origin, disability status, gender, or sexual orientation of

victim differs from that of the offender.

• The victim is a member of a group that is overwhelmingly outnumbered by members of another

group in the area where the incident occurred.

• The victim was engaged in activities promoting his

or her group.

• The incident coincided with a holiday or date of

particular significance to the victim’s group.

• The victim, although not a member of the targeted

group, is a member of an advocacy group that

supports the victim’s group, or the victim was in

the company of a member of the targeted group.

(continued)

A4

Note to Instructor

An optional activity:

A new video entitled

“Responding to Hate

Crimes: A Roll Call

Training Video for Police

Officers,” was recently

developed with funding

from the Bureau of Justice

Assistance (BJA), U.S.

Department of Justice.

The video has an excellent

8-minute segment on hate

crime indicators. The

International Association

for Chiefs of Police (IACP)

created a brochure to

accompany the video.

You may wish to show the

video during this session

and distribute copies of

the brochure. For

information about the

video, contact the BJA at

(800) 688-4252. To order

the brochure, call the

National Criminal Justice

Reference Service at (800)

851-3420, or download it

from the IACP web site at

<www.theiacp.org>.

A1
16

Session A. Introduction and Overview: Defining and Recognizing Bias Crime

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

• Historically, animosity exists between the victim’s group and the

offender’s group.

Comments, Written Statements, or Gestures

• Bias-related comments, written statements, or gestures were made by

the offender.

Drawings, Markings, Symbols, or Graffiti

• Bias-related drawings, markings, symbols, or graffiti were left at the

scene of the incident.

Organized Hate Groups

• Objects or items that represent the work of organized hate groups (e.g.,

white hoods, burning crosses, hate graffiti) were left at the scene of the

incident.

• There are indications that a hate group was involved; for example, an

organized hate group claimed responsibility for the crime or was active

in the neighborhood.

Previous Bias Crimes or Incidents

• Victim was visiting a location where previous bias crimes had been

committed against members of the victim’s group.

• Several incidents occurred in the same area, and the victims were

members of the same group.

• Victim had received previous harassing mail or phone calls or had

experienced verbal abuse based on his or her affiliation with a targeted

group.

• Recent bias incidents or crimes may have sparked a retaliatory hate

crime.

Victim/Witness Perception

• Victims and/or witnesses perceive that the incident was motivated

by bias.

Motive of Offender

• Offender was previously involved in a similar incident or is a member

of, or associates with members of, an organized hate group.

• The victim was in the company of or married to a member of a targeted

group.

• The victim was perceived by the offender as violating or breaking from

traditional conventions or working in nontraditional employment.

• The offender has a history of previous crimes with a similar modus

operandi and involving other victims of the same race, religion,

ethnicity/national origin, disability, sexual orientation, or gender.

(continued)

A1
17

Session A. Introduction and Overview: Defining and Recognizing Bias Crime

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Location of Incident

• The victim was in or near an area or place commonly associated with or

frequented by members of a particular race, religion, ethnicity/national

origin, disability, sexual orientation, or gender (e.g., a gay bar).

• The incident occurred at or near a house of worship, religious cemetery,

or home or establishment of a group considered a minority or “outsider”

in a given neighborhood (e.g., a Korean store in an African American

neighborhood, a gay bar, or an African American home in a predominately Irish American neighborhood).

Lack of Other Motives

• No clear economic or other motive for the incident exists.

Invite participants to volunteer examples from their own experience that illustrate

bias crime indicators.

Use Transparency A5, “Indicator Cautions.”

INDICATOR CAUTIONS5

Need for Case-by-Case Assessment of the Evidence

A small percentage of crimes motivated by bias may not exhibit

any of the listed bias crime indicators. Conversely, some crimes

that exhibit bias indicators may not be motivated by bias. Therefore, reporting agencies must closely examine each case for clear

evidence that the motivation for the crime was bias-related.

Misleading Facts

Agencies must be alert to misleading facts. For example, if the

offender used an epithet to refer to the victim’s race, that might

indicate bias; however, if the offender and the victim were of the

same race, that same action doesn’t necessarily suggest bias.

Feigned Facts and Hoaxes

Agencies must be alert to evidence left by the offenders that is

meant to give the false impression that the incident was motivated

by bias. For example, students of a religious school might vandalize their own school, leaving anti-religious statements and symbols

on its walls, in the hope that they will be excused from attending

class. However, even when a hoax is suspected, police must be

especially careful not to announce this publicly.

Bias crimes can attract intense community interest and sensational

publicity. Stating that the incident may have been faked will often

appear to be “blaming the victim,” leading to a setback in policecommunity relations. On the other hand, if a solid investigation

 Note to Instructor

Remind participants that

the presence of one or

more bias indicators

suggests that a bias crime

may have occurred but

does not positively

identify a crime or

incident as being

motivated by bias.

A1

A5

(continued)
18

Session A. Introduction and Overview: Defining and Recognizing Bias Crime

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Case Study proves no bias was involved, police should rely on the strength of

that evidence to convince a judge, jury, and the general public.

Offender’s Mistaken Perception

Even if the offender was mistaken in his or her belief that the victim was a member of a racial, religious, ethnic/national origin, or sexual orientation group, the

offense is still a hate crime as long as the offender was motivated by bias against

that group. For example, a middle-aged, non-gay man walking past a bar frequented by gays was attacked by six teenagers who mistakenly believed the victim

had left the bar and was gay. Although the offenders were wrong on both counts,

the offense is a bias crime because it was motivated by the offenders’ anti-gay

bias.

Changes in Findings of Bias

If, after an initial incident report was submitted, a contrary finding regarding bias

occurs, the national file must be updated with the new finding. For example, if an

initial finding of no bias was later changed to racial bias, or a finding of racial

bias was later changed to religious bias, the change should be reported to the FBI’s

Uniform Crime Reports Section.

IV. Activity: Application to a Case (25 minutes)

Explain that participants are now going to break into pairs and identify the bias

indicators in a case entitled “The Case of Steven Thompkins and Henry Briggs”

(Handout A2). Explain that this case was specifically developed as a composite of

many of the problems faced by law enforcement and victim assistance professionals when responding to bias crimes.

Distribute Handout A2, “The Case of Steven Thompkins and Henry Briggs.”

Instruct participants to read the case study, and then, in pairs, use the questions

that follow to discuss their responses.

Ask for volunteers to describe the bias indicators they and their partners have

identified. After several minutes, pose the questions that follow the case to solicit

any bias indicators that have not been identified. Write the responses on a

flipchart.

A5
19

Session A. Introduction and Overview: Defining and Recognizing Bias Crime

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

THE CASE OF STEVEN THOMPKINS AND HENRY BRIGGS

The Incident

Two men are walking together outside a restaurant in a small

community with a large gay population. A group of five white, teenage males

approaches them, and one of the teenagers in the group, distinguished from the

others by his short crewcut, signals by raising his right arm. The group responds

to the signal by bombarding the two men with rocks and bottles that had been

concealed inside their jackets. One of the men is hit above the eye and cut by the

broken glass of a bottle. Seeing the open wound on the man’s face, the teenager

who initiated the assault yells to the group, “Watch out, he probably has AIDS.”

The teenagers disperse. Hearing the commotion, the owner of the restaurant calls

the police.

Law Enforcement: First Response and Bias Indicators

Responding patrol officer Jack McCarron arrives at the scene and immediately

calls an ambulance for the wounded man. The officer requests that the other

victim and the restaurant owner remain at the scene for questioning. The victims

are identified as Steven Thompkins and Henry Briggs.

Officer McCarron asks Mr. Briggs, the remaining victim, and the restaurant owner

to describe the offenders in as much detail as they can recall. Henry Briggs,

visibly shaken, tells the officer that he can barely remember a thing about the

group. The restaurant owner tells the police officer that several of his customers

have been the victims of similar incidents in this neighborhood: “These kids come

over from Lakedale [a nearby town] just to stir up trouble.” The officer takes

down this information as part of his report and gets into his patrol car. As he is

about to leave Henry Briggs rushes up to him, saying, “Wait, I do remember

something else. When the punk with the short crewcut raised his arm, I saw a

tattoo. I don’t know what it was—it looked like some sort of skull to me.” Officer

McCarron responds, “Thanks, lots of kids have tattoos these days. I’ll be in touch

with you.”

Questions:

1. According to your knowledge and the definition of bias crime, might this

incident be motivated by bias? What are the bias indicators?

Possible/Desired Responses:

Yes, the crime is motivated by bias. Bias indicators include the following:

• Assault by a group of teenagers who are not residents of the area

• Assault by a group of teenagers in a predominantly gay community

• The lead offender’s comment, “Watch out, he probably has AIDS,”

which may be a reference to the victim’s presumed sexual

orientation

A2

(continued)

Case Study
20

Session A. Introduction and Overview: Defining and Recognizing Bias Crime

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

• The restaurant owner’s remark that several similar incidents have

occurred in this area

• The skull tattoo on the arm of the lead offender, which may be an

insignia of an organized hate group

2. If you believe the incident might be motivated by bias, what form of

bias is being perpetrated by the teenagers? Would the form of bias be

different if the situation and words spoken by the teenager were

exactly the same but the men leaving the restaurant were African

American?

Possible/Desired Responses:

The form of bias is bias against an individual’s sexual orientation (note

the offender’s reference to AIDS). The form of bias would be the

same if the men were African American, unless the offenders also

made references to the victims’ race.

3. With the information presented thus far, can this situation be identified as a possible bias crime or bias incident? What would distinguish it as one or the other?

Possible/Desired Responses:

Although elements for distinguishing bias crimes from bias incidents

vary among states, it is acceptable to identify this case as a possible

incident.

V. Closing Comments (5 minutes)

Explain that you want to provide some closing comments about bias indicators

that will be useful to participants in investigating potential bias crimes and

working with victims. Present the following information relative to bias

indicators:

• Often, law enforcement and victim service professionals overlook

bias crimes when written or verbal bias language is not present and

when other indicators may be less obvious.

• The same holds true with bias crime homicide victims. Frequently in

these cases there are no witnesses to the murder, and no one is able

to report any language-based bias indicators; this challenges police

to search for other, less obvious indicators.

• When a robbery occurs, the motive can appear to be economic.

However, if robbery is not mentioned or attempted until well into the

encounter, it is highly possible that bias may be the primary motivation for the crime. The same principle holds true for sexual assault

cases.

A2
21

Session A. Introduction and Overview: Defining and Recognizing Bias Crime

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

• Remember that the victim does not always understand that he or she may

have been victimized in a bias-motivated attack. Victims often search for

other reasons to explain an attack because their group membership

represents an aspect of themselves that is not generally possible to

change; they will forever be identified as a member of that group and

therefore vulnerable to attack. The same issue can apply to witnesses

as well.

• It is not essential to determine whether the victim is actually a member of

a targeted group when identifying bias indicators. The issue of concern is

the offender’s motive based on his or her perception of who the victim is.

• Keep in mind that bias indicators are factors that should be considered in

determining the presence of a bias crime. They do not, in themselves,

confirm that any incident was a hate offense.

Next Steps for Professionals

• Both victim assistance and law enforcement professionals are motivated

by a desire to protect and serve victims and facilitate the administration

of justice.

• Several elements are critical in both fields for a more effective response:

– improved data collection and documentation

– improved cultural awareness and understanding of diversity

– greater efforts at outreach to the victims

– improved community relations

– greater understanding of the law

– greater understanding of the roles and responsibilities in each field

• Our goal is to help you determine what more you can do to respond

effectively to bias crimes.

References

1 Adapted from U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (1996). Training

guide for hate crime data collection. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 2 Federal hate crime data can be found at the FBI website at <www.fbi.gov/ucr.htm>.

3 Adapted from U.S. Department of Justice (1998). National hate crimes training curriculum:

Multilevel state and local law enforcement professionals. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department

of Justice. 4 Holmes, W. (1992). Hate crime reporting: Obstacles, facilitators, and strategies. Boston:

Statistical Analysis Center, Massachusetts Committee on Criminal Justice.

5 U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (1990). Hate crime data collection

guidelines. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

KEY POINTS ON BIAS CRIME

• Bias crimes are “crimes motivated, in whole or

in part, by hatred against a victim based on his

or her race, religion, sexual orientation,

ethnicity, national origin, or disability.”

(Federal Hate Crime Statistics Act definition)

• Federal laws and state statutes protect

individuals from bias crime and provide a basis

for prosecution of offenders.

• Because of their unique psychological impact

on the victim, bias crimes can have a more

devastating effect than other crimes—on both

the victim and the victim’s community.

• Before the passage of the Hate Crime Statistics

Act in 1990, no comprehensive source of bias

crime incident data existed in the United States,

due in part to differences in defining, reporting,

and compiling incidents of bias crime in

different states.

Transparency A1
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

0

2000

4000

6000

8000

10000

12000

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

Transparency A2

HATE CRIMES AND AGENCIES

REPORTING (1992–1998)

Hate Crimes

Agencies Reporting

1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

12,000

10,000

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

0
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

BIAS MOTIVATION TRENDS

(1992–1998)

Race

61% Religion

17%

Sexual

orientation

12%

Ethnicity

10%

Note: Disability represents

fewer than 1%.

Transparency A3
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

DEFINITION OF A

BIAS CRIME INDICATOR

Objective facts, circumstances, or patterns

attending a criminal act(s), which, standing

alone or in conjunction with other facts or

circumstances, suggest that the offender’s

actions were motivated, in whole or in part,

by any form of bias.

— Massachusetts Model Protocol

for Bias Crime Investigation

Transparency A4
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

 Handout A1

Bias Crime Indicators

Racial, Ethnic, Gender, and/or Cultural Differences

• The race, religion, ethnicity/national origin, disability status, gender, or sexual orientation of victim differs from that of the offender.

• The victim is a member of a group that is overwhelmingly outnumbered by members

of another group in the area where the incident occurred.

• The victim was engaged in activities promoting his or her group.

• The incident coincided with a holiday or date of particular significance to the victim’s

group.

• The victim, although not a member of the targeted group, is a member of an advocacy

group that supports the victim’s group, or the victim was in the company of a member of the targeted group.

• Historically, animosity exists between the victim’s group and the offender’s group.

Comments, Written Statements, or Gestures

• Bias-related comments, written statements, or gestures were made by the offender.

Drawings, Markings, Symbols, or Graffiti

• Bias-related drawings, markings, symbols, or graffiti were left at the scene of the

incident.

Organized Hate Groups

• Objects or items that represent the work of organized hate groups (e.g., white hoods,

burning crosses, hate graffiti) were left at the scene of the incident.

• There are indications that a hate group was involved; for example, an organized hate

group claimed responsibility for the crime or was active in the neighborhood.

Previous Bias Crimes or Incidents

• Victim was visiting a location where previous bias crimes had been committed against

members of the victim’s group.

• Several incidents occurred in the same area, and the victims were members of the

same group.

• Victim had received previous harassing mail or phone calls or had experienced verbal

abuse based on his or her affiliation with a targeted group.

• Recent bias incidents or crimes may have sparked a retaliatory hate crime.
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Handout A1 cont’d

Bias Crime Indicators (con’t.)

Victim/Witness Perception

• Victims and/or witnesses perceive that the incident was motivated by bias.

Motive of Offender

• Offender was previously involved in a similar incident or is a member of, or associates

with members of, an organized hate group.

• The victim was in the company of or married to a member of a targeted group.

• The victim was perceived by the offender as violating or breaking from traditional

conventions or working in nontraditional employment.

• The offender has a history of previous crimes with a similar modus operandi, and involving other victims of the same race, religion, ethnicity/national origin, disability,

sexual orientation, or gender.

Location of Incident

• The victim was in or near an area or place commonly associated with or frequented by

members of a particular race, religion, ethnicity/national origin, disability, sexual orientation, or gender (e.g., a gay bar).

• The incident occurred at or near a house of worship, religious cemetery, or a home or

establishment of a group considered a minority or “outsider” in a given neighborhood

(e.g., a Korean store in an African American neighborhood, a gay bar, or an African

American home in a predominately Irish American neighborhood).

Lack of Other Motives

• No clear economic or other motive for the incident exists.
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

INDICATOR CAUTIONS

• Need for Case-by-Case Assessment of

the Evidence

• Misleading Facts

• Feigned Facts and Hoaxes

• Offender’s Mistaken Perception

• Changes in Findings of Bias

Transparency A5
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

THE CASE OF STEVEN THOMPKINS

AND HENRY BRIGGS

The Incident

Two men are walking together outside a restaurant in a small community with a large

gay population. A group of five white, teenage males approaches them, and one of the

teenagers in the group, distinguished from the others by his short crewcut, signals by

raising his right arm. The group responds to the signal by bombarding the two men

with rocks and bottles that had been concealed inside their jackets. One of the men is

hit above the eye and cut by the broken glass of a bottle. Seeing the open wound on the

man’s face, the teenager who initiated the assault yells to the group, “Watch out, he

probably has AIDS.” The teenagers disperse. Hearing the commotion, the owner of the

restaurant calls the police.

Law Enforcement: First Response and Bias Indicators

Responding patrol officer Jack McCarron arrives at the scene and immediately calls an

ambulance for the wounded man. The officer requests that the other victim and the

restaurant owner remain at the scene for questioning. The victims are identified as

Steven Thompkins and Henry Briggs.

Officer McCarron asks Mr. Briggs, the remaining victim, and the restaurant owner to

describe the offenders in as much detail as they can recall. Henry Briggs, visibly shaken,

tells the officer that he can barely remember a thing about the group. The restaurant

owner tells the police officer that several of his customers have been the victims of

similar incidents in this neighborhood: “These kids come over from Lakedale [a nearby

town] just to stir up trouble.” The officer takes down this information as part of his

report and gets into his patrol car. As he is about to leave Henry Briggs rushes up to

him, saying, “Wait, I do remember something else. When the punk with the short

crewcut raised his arm, I saw a tattoo. I don’t know what it was—it looked like some

sort of skull to me.” Officer McCarron responds, “Thanks, lots of kids have tattoos these

days. I’ll be in touch with you.”

Questions

1. According to your knowledge and the definition of bias crime, might this

incident be motivated by bias? What are the bias indicators?

2. If you believe the incident might be motivated by bias, what form of bias is

being perpetrated by the teenagers? Would the form of bias be different if the

situation and words spoken by the teenager were exactly the same but the men

leaving the restaurant were African American?

 3. With the information presented thus far, can this situation be identified as a

possible bias crime or bias incident? What would distinguish it as one or the

other?

Handout A2

Case

Study
30

Session A. Introduction and Overview: Defining and Recognizing Bias Crime

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum
Presentation: Overview of Victim Trauma 5 minutes

Activity: Analysis of Video Segments 20 minutes

Presentation: Unique Features of Bias Crime and Its Impact 15 minutes

on Bias Crime Victims

Victim Presentation and Discussion 20 minutes

TOTAL TIME 60 minutes

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Identify elements of victim trauma

• Identify the unique features of bias crime

• Understand the impact of bias crime on victims

Time: 60 minutes

Videos: “Understanding Why,” Prime Time Live, October 28,

1993, available for purchase from the Federal Document

Clearinghouse at (800) 225-5222 (be sure to allow at least four

to six weeks for delivery)

“Hate on Trial,” 60 Minutes II, October 12, 1999, CBS Network,

(800) 934-NEWS, or CBS Video, 19 Gregory Drive,

So. Burlington, VT 05403; (800) 542-5621

Handouts: Assessment of Victims’ Physical, Emotional, and

Financial Injuries

Transparencies: Secondary Injury; Unique Features of Bias

Crime; Bias Crime: Victim Impact; Bias Crime: Community

Impact; The Ripple Effect of Bias Crime

Equipment: Overhead projector; screen; flipchart, VCR; monitor

Session

B Victim Impact

 Overview of the Session: At a Glance

 Objectives

 Materials and Equipment
32

Session B. Victim Impact

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

I. Presentation: Overview of Victim Trauma (5 minutes)

Bias crime victims experience many of the same difficulties and traumas as victims

of other crimes, but bias crimes also have a unique impact.

Crisis of Victimization

Many victims experience a crisis as a result of their victimization. Morton Bard,

author of the Crime Victim’s Book, defines the crisis of victimization as “a sudden,

arbitrary, unpredictable event that is threatening to the self and produces a disruption in the emotions and behaviors of the threatened person.”1

 Crime victims

experience this crisis as a result of the primary and secondary injury or harm.

Types of Victim Trauma or Injury

• Physical injury

• Psychological trauma

- initial crisis

- long-term stress reactions

• Financial loss

• Secondary victimization by society and its institutions

II. Activity: Analysis of Video Segments

(20 minutes)

Pre-screen and select one of the two recommended videos listed at the

beginning of this section, both of which portray hate crime victims.

Ask participants to keep the types of victim trauma in mind when they

view the video segment.

Show video segment.

Distribute Handout B1, “Assessment of Victims’ Physical,

Emotional, and Financial Injuries.” Explain that this

assessment list was prepared to be used with victims of any

type of crime to understand the degree of victim trauma.

Ask participants to divide into small groups to complete Handout B1,

based on the victim portrayed in the video.

After they have completed the checklist, reconvene all participants to

the larger group. Ask participants from three different groups to report

to the larger group on one type of victim injury:

• physical

• emotional, or

• financial

Record their answers on a flipchart.

 Instructor’s Notes

Explain that the video to be

shown is an actual portrayal

of a hate crime victim and

the reenactment of a hate

crime. It is very graphic and

involves serious physical and

psychological injury. Explain

that participants may have

trouble viewing the film and

may wish to leave the room

if they believe it will be

particularly disturbing. It

may be helpful to have victim

assistance professionals

available after this session to

assist anyone who has strong

reactions to the video.

Note to Instructor
33

Session B. Victim Impact

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Explain that, as the assessment checklist shows, some aspects of victim harm are felt

immediately. Others are felt later, as a result of resuming daily life at home, in the

community, and at work, and negotiating the medical, legal, insurance, social

service, and/or criminal justice systems.

Use Transparency B1, “Secondary Injury.”

SECONDARY INJURY IS THE VICTIM’S PERCEIVED REJECTION BY AND LACK

OF EXPECTED SUPPORT FROM THE COMMUNITY.

■ Victim trauma may be exacerbated by the insensitivity of others. This is

known as “secondary injury.”

■ Most crime victims experience some type of secondary injury as they

attempt to deal with the systems that provide physical or mental health

care, process insurance claims to recover losses, or adjudicate offenders.

■ Bias crime victims may experience more severe secondary injury because

professionals who work within the system that serves the victim tend to

have the same prejudices and biases as the rest of society.

■ As a result of personal bias and prejudice, professionals—like other individuals—may minimize the impact of the crime on the individual.

■ Bias crime victims frequently feel betrayed and hopeless when they

confront institutional prejudice.

■ Secondary injury can also occur as victims of bias crime interact with

family, friends, and acquaintances, as well as the clergy, the media, and

others.

Ask participants for examples of secondary injury to the victim portrayed in the

video. Record their answers on a flipchart.

III.Presentation: Unique Features of Bias Crimes and Their

Impact on Bias Crime Victims (15 minutes)

Use Transparency B2, “Unique Features of Bias Crime,” to describe key points.

Explain that, in addition to the primary and secondary injuries that victims face,

there are unique features of bias crime that are important to understand.

UNIQUE FEATURES OF BIAS CRIME2

■ Bias crime is more likely to be seriously injurious or lethal than any

other assaultive crime.

■ Bias crime, in part motivated by fear, often escalates when the members

of the dominant culture think they are under attack; for example, a

number of Arab-Americans were harassed or even physically assaulted

during the 1991 Gulf War.

B1

(continued)

B2
34

Session B. Victim Impact

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

■ Bias crimes are usually perpetrated in groups. Group-instigated crime

has a significant impact on the victim for several reasons:

• There is a diffusion of responsibility among offenders.

• Crimes committed by groups tend to be especially vicious, which can

exacerbate the physical and emotional trauma to the victim.

■ A large number of bias crimes seem to be aimed at individuals who are

not only members of an identified group but also perceived as infringing on another group’s “territory.” Northeastern Professor Jack

McDevitt analyzed 452 cases of bias crime that occurred in Boston

from 1983 to 1987 and found that 57 percent of the crimes were

attacks on persons walking, driving through, or working in a neighborhood, or on families moving into the area.3

Similar to all crime victims, bias crime victims often suffer from shock, disbelief,

and denial. Their emotional turmoil is comprised of rage, terror, confusion, frustration, blame, and grief. These emotional reactions are compounded because the

victims are chosen due to a characteristic of their identity. Bias crime victims may

experience especially acute effects of primary and secondary victimization. The

particular effects of primary victimization, resulting from the impact of the crime

itself, are reviewed below.

Use Transparency B3, “Bias Crime: Victim Impact,” and describe the key points.

BIAS CRIME: VICTIM IMPACT

■ Victims of bias crime are attacked for being “different,” for being

misunderstood, and for being hated. Because the basis for their attack

is their identity, they may suffer a deep personal crisis.

■ Victims of bias crime are targeted due to a core, immutable characteristic of their identity. This may lead to a feeling of increased vulnerability because they are attacked for something that they cannot

change.

■ Trauma may be compounded because of the nature of the attack and

its root in hatred or prejudice. It is very difficult for a bias crime

victim to resolve that the crime was motivated by hatred as opposed

to another motive, such as an economic one. Research shows that

people who are physically or psychologically attacked for reasons of

prejudice suffer more than people who are victims of similar attacks

not motivated by prejudice.4,5

■ If their membership in a target group is readily visible, victims of bias

crimes may feel particularly vulnerable to a repeat attack. This

heightened sense of vulnerability may result in the feeling of hopelessness. They may become afraid to associate with other members of

the group that has been targeted or may fear seeking needed services,

believing that these actions increase their vulnerability.

B2

B3

(continued)
35

Session B. Victim Impact

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

■ Bias crime victims’ grief can be more intense than other reactions,

arising in part because victims lose their sense of community or feel

betrayed by the American system.

■ Victims of bias crimes who are minorities may feel the crime has been

diminished because of societal stereotyping, prejudice, or institutional

indifference.

■ As a result of the victimization, bias crime victims may respond by

more strongly identifying with their group—or, conversely, by attempting to disassociate themselves or deny a significant aspect of their

identity.

■ Assumptions about life and worldview may be shattered. For bias

crime victims who are members of a minority culture, this may be

particularly devastating because their worldview may have been very

different from the dominant culture’s worldview.

Bias crime affects more than the individual victims. Use Transparency B4, “Bias

Crime: Community Impact,” to discuss the effects of bias crime on the community.

BIAS CRIME: COMMUNITY IMPACT

■ When individuals are targets of hate because of their race, religion,

national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation,

their victimization is projected outward to all members of their

community.

■ Other members of the same group feel victimized, and members of

other commonly targeted groups are reminded of their vulnerability to

similar attacks. All members of the targeted group suffer injury and

intimidation.

■ Places of worship are often targeted by bias crime offenders; these

attacks on sacred spiritual symbols, which may harm victims more

than other acts of vandalism, also harm other members of the community.

■ Hate crimes are highly likely to exacerbate racial or other intergroup

tensions. They may create civil disturbances, even riots, and result in

retaliatory hate crimes.

Use Transparency B5, “The Ripple Effect of Bias Crime,” to discuss the chainreaction of impact that can ensue from a single hate crime.

The Ripple Effect of Bias Crime

The effects of hate crimes are far-reaching. As message crimes, hate crimes affect

society on many levels and in many different ways, creating a chain reaction that

ultimately serves as fertile ground for further prejudice, social unrest, hate crime,

and fear. Possible effects of hate crimes are as follows:

B3

B4

B5
36

Session B. Victim Impact

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

• The immediate victims suffer serious physical injury, psychological

trauma, and/or financial loss.

• The specific group that has been targeted receives a message that all of its

members are potentially at risk.

• Other groups commonly targeted for hate crimes receive a frightening

reminder of their potential victimization by individuals who view them as

“different.”

• The community in which the crime occurred suffers the stigma of hatred

as well as a potential increase in intergroup tensions and escalation of

hate activity.

• The social order—in the affected community and beyond—is disrupted,

often resulting in civil unrest, retaliatory violence, and copycat incidents.

• The civil rights of all individuals are at risk, especially if hate crimes are

not properly and swiftly addressed.

IV. Victim Presentation and Discussion (20 minutes)

It is most compelling if a victim of bias crime is recruited for the training to make

a presentation about his or her personal experience as a victim of bias crime (see

page 5 for more information on recruiting a victim to present). The presentation

should include the following:

• The victim’s personal experience as a victim

• The impact of the bias crime on the victim

• The response of the criminal justice system to the victim

• The response of other professionals, institutions, and friends and family

members to the victim

• The victim’s recommendations, if any, to improve the response to bias

crime victimization

After the presentation, ask participants if they have any questions or reactions.

After a brief time for questions, thank the victim for his or her willingness to

present.

If it is not possible to recruit a victim to make a presentation, use any of the following videos, which include victim interviews.

• “The Truth About Hate: Teen Files Series”

March 1999

AIMS Multimedia Orders

9710 DeSoto Avenue

Chatsworth, CA 91311

(800) 367-2467, ext. 349

http://www.aims-multimedia.com/

Public Performance licensed video: $142.45

Private Home Use licensed video: $29.95
37

Session B. Victim Impact

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

• “Hate Crimes: Training for Police Officers”

November 25, 1990

Anti-Defamation League

Materials Library

22-D Hollywood Avenue

Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ 07423

(800) 343-5540

Video segment: 12 minutes

• “Roy Smith’s America”

March 3, 1998

20/20

ABC Network

(800) CALL-ABC

After viewing the victim segment(s), discuss the video. After a few minutes of

discussion, ask for volunteers to answer the following questions:

■ What types of victim trauma were involved?

■ What unique aspects of victimization were involved?

■ What changes, if any, would you make in response to the victim?

■ What was the impact of the crime on the community?

References

1

Bard, M. and Sangrey, D. (1986). The crime victim’s book. Brunner/Mazel. 2

Young, M.A., NOVA (1993). Victim assistance: Frontiers and fundamentals. Dubuque, IA:

Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. 3

McDevitt, J. and Levin, J. (1993). Hate crimes: The rising tide of bigotry and bloodshed. New

York: Plenum Publishers. 4

Hutson, H. R., Anglin D., Stratton, G., Moore, J. Hate crime violence and its emergency

department management. Ann Emerg Med (June 1997). 29:786–791. 5

The Prejudice Institute (1997). Factsheet on ethnoviolence. Baltimore: The Prejudice Institute.
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Assessment of Victims’ Physical,

Emotional, and Financial Injuries

Physical

• What is the degree of victim injury?

• What is the severity and impact of the injury?

• Will the injury create a long-term disability?

• Has the crime aggravated a previously existing physical or medical condition?

• Is the injury a visible one? Will there be permanent scarring or disfigurement?

Emotional

• Has the lack of a physical injury resulted in other people discounting the seriousness

of the incident?

• What previous life experiences with victimization, oppression, or discrimination, if

any, have a bearing on the recent victimization?

• What emotions are being experienced?

• Does the victim fear revictimization?

Handout B1
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

• Is emotional stress interfering with basic life activities, such as eating, sleeping,

and ability to concentrate on the task at hand?

• What are the unique vulnerabilities of this victim? What degree of social support

exists?

• What bearing does the offender’s motivation have on the victim’s emotional

reaction?

• What factors relating to the commission of the crime exacerbate the victim emotional reaction, such as the degree of degradation the victim experienced and the

degree that this victimization affects all members of this class or community?

Financial

• What is the degree of financial loss?

• Has the crime interrupted the victim’s ability to earn income? Is this jeopardizing

the victim’s financial security?

• Has the victim had expenses relating to child care, transportation, or other costs

associated with the crime?

• Does the victim have insurance that covers the loss or injury?

• Does the loss or damage of property pose immediate hardship, such as the need to

find alternate housing or transportation?

Handout B1 (cont’d)
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

SECONDARY INJURY

Secondary injury is the victim’s perceived

rejection by and lack of expected support from

the community.

Transparency B1
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

UNIQUE FEATURES OF BIAS CRIME

• More likely to be seriously injurious or lethal

than other assaultive crimes

• Often escalates when members of dominant

culture think they are under attack

• Usually perpetrated in groups, which may

- diffuse offenders’ responsibility

- exacerbate trauma to victim

- exacerbate the viciousness of the attack

• Aimed at individuals perceived as infringing on

another group’s “territory”

Transparency B2
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

BIAS CRIME: VICTIM IMPACT

• Because the basis for the attack is their

identity, victims may experience a deep

personal crisis.

• Stress and feelings of vulnerability may be

heightened or prolonged because the

victims have been attacked for something

they cannot change.

• Trauma may be compounded because hate

crime victims experience violence and

hatred.

• Victims of bias crime may feel particularly

vulnerable to a repeat attack. They may

become afraid to associate with other

members of a group that has been

targeted or fail to seek needed services.

Transparency B3
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

BIAS CRIME: VICTIM IMPACT (cont’d)

• Victims’ grief may in part stem from

losing their sense of community or feeling

betrayed by society.

• Victims may feel the crime has been

diminished because of societal stereotyping, prejudice, or institutional

indifference.

• Victims may respond by identifying more

strongly with their group.

or

They may reject the aspect of themselves

that was the target for their attack.

• Assumptions about life and worldview

may be shattered.

Transparency B3 (cont’d)
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

BIAS CRIME:

COMMUNITY IMPACT

• Victimization of individuals because of

race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. is

projected outward to all members of that

community.

• Members of other commonly targeted

groups are reminded of their vulnerability.

• Attacks on places of worship and their

spiritual symbols may harm victims and

the community more than other acts of

vandalism.

• Hate crimes are highly likely to exacerbate

intergroup tensions. They may create civil

disturbances, even riots, and result in

retaliatory attacks.

blank

Transparency B4
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

THE RIPPLE EFFECT

OF BIAS CRIME

Transparency B5

victim

Targeted group

All targeted groups

Community

Social order

Civil rights of all individuals
46

Session B. Victim Impact

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum
Presentation: Offender Typology 30 minutes

Presentation: Organized Hate Groups 15 minutes

Activity: Analysis of Three Video Segments 45 minutes

TOTAL TIME 90 minutes

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Describe the characteristics of three types of bias crime offenders

• Give examples of retaliatory hate crimes and discuss the importance of appropriate responses

• Describe the characteristics of organized hate groups

• Identify offender typology, given a case example

Time: 90 minutes

Videos: “That Old Gang of Mine” (interview with Eric,

former skinhead), 1990

“On Hate Street,” 48 Hours, CBS, 1992

“Licensed to Kill,” Arthur Dong, Deepfocus

Productions, 1997

(See page 56 for ordering information.)

Handouts: Thrill-Seeking Offenders; Case Studies of Typical

Offenders; Reactive Offenders; Mission Offenders; Offender

Typology Video Observation Form

Transparencies: Important of Understanding Offender Typology;

Retaliatory Hate Crimes; Organized Hate Groups

Equipment: Overhead projector; screen; VCR; monitor

Session

C Bias Crime Offenders

 Objectives

 Overview of the Session: At a Glance

 Materials and Equipment
48

Session C. Bias Crime Offenders

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

 Instructor’s Notes

Note to Instructor

I. Presentation: Offender Typology (30 minutes)

Explain the following:

• Jack Levin and Jack McDevitt of Northeastern University identified three

different types of hate crime offenders in their book on bias crime, Hate

Crime: The Rising Tide of Bigotry and Bloodshed: thrill-seeking offenders,

reactive offenders, and mission offenders.

• These are not necessarily pure categories, and, since offenders can

progress from one type to another, the lines between the categories may

at times be blurred.

Use Transparency C1, “Importance of Understanding Offender Typology.”

IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING OFFENDER

TYPOLOGY

Knowing offender typology helps law enforcement do

the following:

■ Identify suspects

■ Locate offenders

■ Gain insight into the victim’s perception of

his or her vulnerability

■ Gain insight into the offender’s motivation

■ Determine the probability of escalation

■ Anticipate community response

The offender typology presented in this session is

designed to help professionals

understand the different

motivations and characteristics of “typical” hate crime

offenders and the implications

for responding to hate violence. It is not intended to

overgeneralize or to presume

that perpetrators will necessarily fit into one category.

Explain to participants that

this typology is evolving as

research on hate crime offenders continues. The terms,

such as “thrill-seeking” or

“mission,” are the ones

originally used by Jack Levin

and Jack McDevitt in their

seminal book on hate crime.1

Other hate crime experts may

use different terms for the

same typology. To encourage

discussion, you may wish to

ask participants for their

ideas about the typology and

its relevance to perpetrators

they have encountered.

C1
49

Session C. Bias Crime Offenders

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Distribute Handout C1, “Thrill-Seeking Offenders.”

THRILL-SEEKING OFFENDERS

Offender Characteristics

■ Usually, groups of teenagers

■ Not generally associated with an organized hate group

Precipitating Events

■ Generally, none

Motivation

■ To get a psychological or social thrill

■ To be accepted by peers

■ To gain “bragging” rights

Victim

■ Almost any member of a vulnerable group

■ Members of groups perceived as inferior by offenders

Location

■ Generally outside of offenders’ “turf”

■ Area(s) frequented by members of targeted group(s)

Additional Characteristics

■ Most common type of hate crime; represents approximately 60 percent

of all cases

■ Since attacks are random, it is often difficult to identify the offenders

■ Attacks often involve desecration and vandalism, although they can

also involve more violent crimes

■ Hatred of victim is relatively superficial; offenders may be deterred

from repeating the crime if there is strong societal response condemning the behavior

■ Each group member’s participation may be limited to a specific aspect

of the crime, enabling each offender to avoid acknowledgment of or

accountability for the seriousness of the crime

C1
50

Session C. Bias Crime Offenders

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Distribute Handout C2, “Case Studies of Typical Offenders.”

Note: This handout will be used to explore all three offender types.

CASE STUDIES OF TYPICAL OFFENDERS

Thrill-Seeking Offenders

Two alienated white youths looking for excitement went on a spree of destruction and defacement that resulted in attacks on 23 properties in three different

communities. They defaced walls, driveways, and automobiles with slurs against

Jews, African Americans, Greeks, and even skinheads. After their arrest, the men

claimed that they hadn’t intended to hurt anyone—that it only happened because

they were drunk.

Encourage one participant to provide a case example of a thrill-seeking bias

crime from his or her jurisdiction or state.

Distribute Handout C3, “Reactive Offenders.”

REACTIVE OFFENDERS

Offender Characteristics

■ Have a sense of entitlement regarding their rights, privileges, or way of

life, which does not extend to the victim

■ Usually have no prior history of criminal behavior or overt bigotry;

not generally associated with an organized hate group, although may

call on an organized hate group to assist in mitigating the perceived

threat

Precipitating Events

■ Offenders perceive a threat to their way of life, community, place of

work, or privilege

Motivation

■ To protect or defend against the perceived threat constituted by the

presence of “outsiders”

■ To use fear and intimidation to send a message that will repel the

“outsiders”

Victim(s)

■ Particular individual or group of individuals who are perceived to

constitute the threat

■ Most often, people of color

Location

■ Typically, offender’s own neighborhood, school, or place of work

C2

C3

(continued)

Case Study
51

Session C. Bias Crime Offenders

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Additional Characteristics

■ If the threat is perceived to subside, criminal behavior also subsides

■ Offenders feel little if any guilt because they perceive their behavior as

a justifiable response to their feelings of violation at the mere presence

of the victim

Refer participants back to Handout C2, “Case Studies of Typical Offenders.”

Reactive Offenders

In Jersey City, New Jersey, an East Indian chemist was severely

beaten with an iron bar in his own apartment by a racist who

resented the presence of “Hindus” in his neighborhood.

In Wheaton, Maryland, two young white men unable to find work stopped their

car and chased two African American women, who were walking from their

apartment to a pay phone. One woman ran toward a house and was rescued by

the occupant, who heard one of the assailants warn, “If you knock on that door

again, I’ll kill you.” The other woman tried to escape into the woods, where she

fell. The attackers beat her head and face, ripped off her blouse, and doused her

with lighter fluid. As they attempted to light the fluid, police cars arrived at the

scene. Both men escaped but were later apprehended. They were charged with

attempted murder, assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to maim,

kidnapping, and (under a 1988 bias crime statute) attempting to injure a person

for racial reasons.

Encourage one participant to provide a case example of a reactive bias crime

from his or her jurisdiction or state.

Distribute Handout C4, “Mission Offenders.”

MISSION OFFENDERS

Offender Characteristics

■ Often psychotic, suffering from mental illness that may cause hallucinations, impaired ability to reason, and withdrawal from other people

■ Perceive victim groups as evil, subhuman, and/or animal

Precipitating Events

■ None

Motivation

■ Believe they have been instructed by a higher order (God, the Fuhrer,

the Imperial Wizard, etc.) to rid the world of this evil

■ Believe they must get even for the misfortunes they have suffered and

C4

(continued)

C3

C2

Case Study
52

Session C. Bias Crime Offenders

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

perceive a conspiracy of some kind being perpetrated by the groups

they have targeted

■ Have a sense of urgency about the mission; believe they must act

before it is too late

Victim

■ Any or all members of the category of people they perceive as responsible for their frustrations

Location

■ Areas where members of the targeted group are likely to be found

Additional Characteristics

■ The rarest kind of bias crime

■ Crimes are of a violent nature; the mission may end in the offender’s

suicide

Refer participants back to Handout C2, “Case Studies of Typical

Offenders.”

Mission Offenders

Marc Lepine entered the engineering

school at the University of Montreal

with the intent of “getting even” with

women, especially feminist women, whom he

perceived as having ruined his life. He walked into

a classroom, directed the men to leave, and ordered

the women to move to one side of the room,

saying, “I want the women. You’re all a bunch of

feminists. I hate feminists.”

He opened fire and killed 14 women between the

classroom, the hallways, and the cafeteria, and

then took his own life.

Encourage one participant to provide a case example of a mission

bias crime from his or her jurisdiction or state.

C4

Note to Instructor

Clarify for participants that

the category of retaliatory

hate crimes does not encompass all forms of retaliation

or revenge. It refers specifically to hate crimes in which

a victim is selected at random

because of his or her race,

religion, ethnicity, gender,

sexual orientation, etc.

In concluding the discussion

of the offender typology, ask

participants what bearing the

typology and motivation of

the offender has on the

impact on the victim and on

the community as a whole.

Would participants anticipate

different effects depending on

the motivation? Does it

matter?

C2

Case Study
53

Session C. Bias Crime Offenders

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Retaliatory Hate Crime

Ongoing analysis of offender research and hate crime cases has revealed that it may

be necessary to add “retaliatory” as a category to the hate crime typology.2 Retaliatory hate crimes are those motivated by revenge for a specific incident perceived to

be rooted in discrimination or hatred.

Use Transparency C2, “Retaliatory Hate Crime,” to review the major points that

characterize retaliatory hate crime, using the cases below as an illustration.

Two well-known cases illustrate retaliatory hate crime:

• During the 1992 riots in Los Angeles, following the acquittal of Los

Angeles police officers in the videotaped beating of Rodney King, a group

of young black males dragged white truck driver Reginald Denny from

the cab of his truck and severely beat him within an inch of his life. This

attack has been described as a retaliatory hate crime that occurred in

response to the police brutality against Rodney King, and to widespread

public perception that the justice system had failed to protect King’s civil

rights.

• In 1991, a Jewish scholar named Yankel Rosenbaum was randomly

selected and killed during an uprising in the Crown Heights section of

Brooklyn, New York. The precipitating event for the unrest was the death

of a young black child who was accidentally killed by an Orthodox

Jewish driver. Rumors spread throughout the black community that a

Hasidic-owned ambulance company had refused to treat the black children injured in the accident and instead had attended to the Jewish

passengers. The police reported that they had ordered the ambulance to

remove the Jewish driver from the scene to protect him from the angry

crowd. Fueled by the rumors, black youths marched through the streets

shouting, “Kill the Jews.” Rosenbaum, a visiting scholar from Australia

who had nothing to do with the accident, was killed amidst several days

of racial hostilities.

These two painful events from our history illustrate the complex nature of retaliatory hate crime. In both examples, the victim was selected merely because of his

race and in retaliation for other bias incidents. Both occurred within a context of

racial unrest fueled by perceptions of discrimination. And both demonstrate the

devastation that can occur if the public perceives that acts of discrimination or

hatred are not met with an appropriate response from law enforcement and the

justice system.
54

Session C. Bias Crime Offenders

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

II. Presentation: Organized Hate Groups (15 minutes)

Use Transparency C3, “Organized Hate Groups.”

ORGANIZED HATE GROUPS

Group Characteristics

■ Range from loosely structured local groups to highly structured international groups

■ Leaders of the groups tend to project a mainstream image rather than a

fringe, extremist image

■ The significant organized hate groups are technologically sophisticated

■ Skinheads, although generally not official members of organized hate

groups, often support or are loosely affiliated with these groups, taking

inspiration and direction from them

■ Focus on issues of concern to middle America as a method for cloaking

and marketing their hate philosophy (i.e., “government interference,”

“cheating,” etc.)

■ Believe in the inevitability of a global war between the races

■ Examples of organized hate groups include White Aryan Resistance, the

Ku Klux Klan, and neo-Nazis

History of Organized Hate Groups

■ Organized hate groups are not a new phenomenon.

■ Hate groups characteristically grow in numbers and membership during:

- periods of increased immigration, such as the 1920s

- periods when disenfranchised groups have attempted to increase

their political and economic power, such as Reconstruction and the

Civil Rights Movement

- periods of economic instability, when people seek scapegoats to

blame for unemployment, such as the 1930s and the late 1980s

■ At times, organized hate groups have been powerful forces in American

political life. Many have sought dominance through violence and

intimidation. Others have achieved significant political victories in

electoral politics.

■ Organized hate groups have a tendency to become fragmented, breaking

up because of internal dissension. Groups often take names similar to

those used by other hate groups, which should not imply an actual

connection; for example, there are many small groups that use the term

“skins” in their name.

Structure of Contemporary Hate Groups

■ It has been estimated that there are currently no fewer than 20,000 and

C3

(continued)
55

Session C. Bias Crime Offenders

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

possibly no more than 50,000, members of white supremacist groups in

the United States. These groups fall into a number of often overlapping

categories, including Ku Klux Klan groups, neo-Nazi groups, Christian

Identity groups, and “skinhead” gangs.

Hate Group Ideology

■ Explicitly racist; considers people of color to be subhuman. Homophobia

has recently been added to their agenda.

■ Often blame the federal government, an international Jewish conspiracy,

and/or communism for most of this country’s problems.

■ Some groups include apocalyptic Christianity in their ideology and

believe we are in, or approaching, a period of violence and social turmoil

that will precede the Second Coming of Christ.

Strategy

■ The major organized hate groups often take a more sophisticated approach to spreading their message, using such venues as cable TV, the

World Wide Web, and computer bulletin boards.

■ Some are consciously attempting to display a more mainstream image

and run for office (often under the banner of a major political party).

However, there is always the potential for violence. For example, during

the 1980s, a small number of white supremacists formed a paramilitary

organization called The Order, which was implicated in a number of

bombings and murders, including that of Alan Berg, a Jewish radio talk

show host.

■ Many of the militant white supremacist groups have relocated to congregate in certain geographical areas, such as the Pacific Northwest, where

members have engaged in a number of armed confrontations with federal

authorities.

Skinheads

■ Skinhead groups are small, loosely organized gangs of adolescents and

young adults. Most skinheads are male, although young women are

involved in both skinhead activity and hate violence.

■ Skinhead violence is typically perpetrated by small groups of skinheads

who attack persons of color or other targets, using fists, boots, bats, and

knives. Some of these attacks are fatal. Most are unplanned; however

some skinheads have been implicated in organized violence involving

bombs and firearms and carefully selected targets, such as gay bars,

temples, or the offices of civil rights organizations.

■ The stereotypical skinhead has a shaved head and wears Doc Marten

shoes or workboots, suspenders, and jeans. However, so do many other

young people who are not involved in hate group activity. Conversely,

many racist “skinheads” do not shave their heads.

C3
56

Session C. Bias Crime Offenders

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

III. Activity: Analysis of Three Video Segments

(45 minutes)

Tell participants that they are about to watch several videos and that their challenge

is to categorize the offender based on the typology. Instruct participants to take

notes as they watch the videos so that they will be prepared to share both their

categorization of the offender and the reasoning behind their choices. Distribute

Handout C5, “Offender Typology Video Observation Form.”

Videos recommended for this activity are listed below. Instructors are advised to

order the videos 4 to 6 weeks in advance of the training. Be sure to screen the

videos and select those segments that best fit the course and the time available.

• “That Old Gang of Mine” (interview with Eric, former skinhead); The Bureau

for At-Risk Youth; 135 Dupont Street; P.O. Box 760; Plainview, NY 11803;

Phone: (800) 999-6884, ext. 262. Price: $125

• “Licensed to Kill,” Arthur Dong; Deepfocus Productions, Inc.; P.O. Box 39548;

Los Angeles, CA 90039-0548

Phone: (323) 662-6575; FAX: 323/662-6577

E-mail: AdongLA@aol.com

http://www.filmmag.com/community/adong/

77-minute full length theatrical version: $295

53-minute special edited version: $245

A comprehensive study guide accompanies the video.

• “On Hate Street,” 48 Hours, CBS; February 26, 1992

CBS Network Television: (800) 934-NEWS

Show the three video segments. Ask participants to note their observations on the

form.

Facilitate a discussion at the conclusion of each video segment, using the following

questions to focus the discussion:

• Can you identify the typology of the offender(s) in the videos?

• What might cause the offender to move into another type of offender

category?

• Have you had any experience with any of the offender types portrayed in

the videos?

References

1

Levin, J. and McDevitt, J. (1993). Hate crime: The rising tide of bigotry and bloodshed. New

York: Plenum Publishers. 2

McDevitt, J. (1998). National Center for Hate Crime Prevention Advisory Council Meeting.
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

IMPORTANCE OF

UNDERSTANDING

OFFENDER TYPOLOGY

Knowing offender typology helps law

enforcement:

• identify suspects

• locate offenders

• gain insight into the victim’s perception of

his or her vulnerability

• gain insight into the offender’s motivation

• determine the probability of escalation

• anticipate community response

Transparency C1
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Thrill-Seeking Offenders

Offender Characteristics

• Usually, groups of teenagers

• Not generally associated with an organized hate group

Precipitating Events

• Generally, none

Motivation

• To get a psychological or social thrill

• To be accepted by peers

• To gain “bragging” rights

Victim

• Almost any member of a vulnerable group

• Members of groups perceived as inferior by offenders

Location

• Generally outside of offender’s “turf’’

• Area(s) frequented by targeted group(s)

Additional Characteristics

• Most common type of hate crime; represents approximately 60 percent of all

cases

• Since attacks are random, it is often difficult to identify the offenders

• Attacks often involve desecration and vandalism, although they can also

involve more violent crimes

• Hatred of victim is relatively superficial; offenders may be deterred from

repeating the crime if there is a strong societal response condemning the

behavior

• Each group member’s participation may be limited to a specific aspect of the

crime, enabling each offender to avoid acknowledgment of or accountability for

the seriousness of the crime

Handout C1
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Case Studies of Typical Offenders

Thrill-Seeking Offenders

Two alienated white youths looking for excitement went on a spree of destruction

and defacement that resulted in attacks on 23 properties in three different communities. They defaced walls, driveways, and automobiles with slurs against

Jews, African Americans, Greeks, and even skinheads. After their arrest, the men

claimed that they hadn’t intended to hurt anyone—that it only happened because

they were drunk.

Reactive Offenders

In Jersey City, New Jersey, an East Indian chemist was severely beaten with an

iron bar in his own apartment by a racist who resented the presence of “Hindus”

in his neighborhood.

In Wheaton, Maryland, two young white men unable to find work stopped their

car and chased two African American women, who were walking from their

apartment to a pay phone. One woman ran toward a house and was rescued by

the occupant, who heard one of the assailants warn, “If you knock on that door

again, I’ll kill you.” The other woman tried to escape into the woods, where she

fell. The attackers beat her head and face, ripped off her blouse, and doused her

with lighter fluid. As they attempted to light the fluid, police cars arrived at the

scene. Both men escaped but were later apprehended. They were charged with

attempted murder, assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to maim,

kidnapping, and (under a 1988 bias crime statute) attempting to injure a person

for racial reasons.

Mission Offenders

Marc Lepine entered the engineering school at the University of Montreal with the

intent of “getting even” with women, especially feminist women, whom he perceived as having ruined his life. He walked into a classroom, directed the men to

leave, and ordered the women to move to one side of the room, saying, “I want

the women. You’re all a bunch of feminists. I hate feminists.” He opened fire

and killed 14 women between the classroom, the hallways, and the cafeteria, and

then took his own life.

Case Study

Handout C2
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Reactive Offenders

Offender Characteristics

• Have a sense of entitlement regarding their rights, privileges, or way of life,

which does not extend to the victim

• Usually have no prior history of criminal behavior or overt bigotry; not

generally associated with an organized hate group, although may call on an

organized hate group to assist in mitigating the perceived threat

Precipitating Events

• Offenders perceive a threat to their way of life, community, place of work, or

privilege

Motivation

• To protect or defend against the perceived threat constituted by the presence of

“outsiders”

• To use fear and intimidation to send a message that will repel the “outsiders”

Victim(s)

• Particular individual or group of individuals who are perceived to constitute the

threat

• Most often, people of color

Location

• Typically, in offender’s own neighborhood, school, or place of work

Additional Characteristics

• If the threat is perceived to subside, criminal behavior also subsides

• Offenders feel little if any guilt because they perceive their behavior as a

justifiable response to their feelings of violation at the mere presence of the

victim

Handout C3
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Mission Offenders

Offender Characteristics

• Often psychotic, suffering from mental illness that may cause hallucinations,

impaired ability to reason, and withdrawal from other people

• Perceive victim groups as evil, subhuman, and/or animal

Precipitating Events:

• None

Motivation

• Believes they have been instructed by a higher order (God, the Fuhrer, the

Imperial Wizard, etc.) to rid the world of this evil

• Believe they must get even for the misfortunes they have suffered and perceive

a conspiracy of some kind being perpetrated by the targeted groups

• Have a sense of urgency about the mission; believe they must act before it is

too late

Victim

• Any or all members of the category of people they perceive as responsible for

their frustrations

Location

• Areas where members of the targeted group are likely to be found

Additional Characteristics

• The rarest kind of bias crime

• Crimes are of a violent nature; the mission often ends in the offender’s suicid

Handout C4
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

RETALIATORY HATE CRIME

• Motivated by revenge for another incident or

crime, especially incidents perceived to be

rooted in prejudice

• May involve large-group activity or rioting

• Demonstrate what can happen if hate crimes

do not receive an appropriate response from

law enforcement, the justice system, and the

community

Transparency C2
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Transparency C3

ORGANIZED HATE GROUPS

Group Characteristics

• Range from loosely structured local groups to

highly structured international groups

• Leaders tend to project a mainstream image

• Technologically sophisticated

• Skinheads loosely affiliated with these groups,

although usually are not official members

• Focus on issues of concern to middle America

as a cover for their aims

• Believe in the inevitability of a global war

between the races

• Examples include White Aryan Resistance, the

Ku Klux Klan, and neo-Nazis

(continued)
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

ORGANIZED HATE GROUPS (cont’d)

History of Organized Hate Groups

• Not a new phenomenon; hate groups grow in

response to:

- periods of increased immigration

- attempts by disenfranchised groups to

increase political and economic power

- periods of economic instability

• Powerful forces in American political life

• Tend to break up because of internal

dissension; groups often take names similar to

other hate groups

Structure of Contemporary Hate Groups

• Estimated at no fewer than 20,000 and

possibly no more than 50,000 members of

white supremacist groups in the United States

Transparency C3 (cont’d)
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

ORGANIZED HATE GROUPS (cont’d)

Hate Group Ideology

• Explicitly racist, considering people of color

to be subhuman; homophobia recently added

to their agenda

• Often blame the government, communism,

and/or ethnic and racial “conspiracies” for

most of this country’s problems

• Some include apocalyptic Christianity in their

ideology

Strategy

• Often use technological venues, such as cable

TV, the World Wide Web, and computer

bulletin boards

• Some attempt to display a more mainstream

political image and might run for office, but

the potential for violence is always present

• Congregate in large numbers in certain

geographical areas (e.g., Pacific Northwest)

Transparency C3 (cont’d)
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

ORGANIZED HATE GROUPS (cont’d)

Skinheads

• Groups are small, loosely organized gangs of mostly

male adolescents and young adults

• Most attacks are unplanned; however, skinheads

have been implicated in organized violence

Transparency C3 (cont’d)
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Offender Typology

Video Observation Form

Title Description Typology Indicators

Video #1

Video #2

Video #3

Handout C5
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Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum
Session

D Bias Crime and the Law

 Objectives

 Materials and Equipment

 Overview of the Session: At a Glance

Presentation: Introduction to Federal and State Laws 30 minutes

Activity: Criminal Law Case Application and Discussion 30 minutes

Optional Activity: Drafting Civil Rights Injunctions 20 minutes

Presentation: Emerging Legal Issues 10 minutes

TOTAL TIME 90 minutes

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Explain why law enforcement and victim assistance

professionals need to know the laws relating to bias crime

• Understand the relevant federal laws

• Understand the range of bias-related state statutes

• Understand their state’s bias crime laws

• Analyze cases to determine if they may be prosecuted as bias

crimes and, if so, under which statutes

• Describe emerging bias crime-related legislative trends

Time: 90 minutes

Handouts: Appendix B: State Bias Crime Statutory Provisions;

Appendix C: Bias Crime Statutes and Related Provisions

Nationwide; Federal Criminal Statutes; Federal Civil Statutes;

Reconciling Bias Crime and the First Amendment

Transparencies: Importance of Bias Crime Laws; Categories of

State Bias Crime Laws; Your State’s Criminal, Civil, and Data

Reporting Statutes; Federal Criminal Statutes; Federal Civil

Statutes; Federal Hate Crime Statistics Act; Criminal Case

Illustrations; Civil Injunction: Case Illustration; Characteristics

of Gender-Based Crimes; Gender as Hate Crime: The Law;

Legal Criteria for Determining Gender-Based Hate Crimes

Equipment: Overhead projector; screen
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Note to Instructor

 Instructor’s Notes

I. Presentation: Introduction to Federal and State Laws

(30 minutes)

Explain the following:

• Law enforcement professionals need to be knowledgeable about

the law to make arrests, conduct investigations, establish intent,

assist prosecutors, and assist and refer victims.

• Victim service providers need to be equally knowledgeable about

the law to inform victims of their legal options, assist and

advocate for them in the court system, and support police

investigations and prosecution.

• It is critical for departments and agencies to establish mechanisms for staying current on case law and national and state

legislative trends.

• There are federal and state laws that provide criminal and civil

causes of action to protect victims of bias crime.

• Even if a bias crime case cannot be criminally prosecuted, there

may be remedies under civil law. Provision for damages and

injunctive relief may be granted to victims in successfully

prosecuted civil cases. Civil remedies can be pursued even if

there is a successful criminal prosecution.

Jurisdictional Issues

Explain the following jurisdictional issues related to federal, state,

and local hate crimes:

• Generally, federal criminal statutes are intended to supplement

state criminal laws. The prosecutor with jurisdiction over the

crime is either the United States attorney for violations of federal

law or the state or local prosecutor (state attorney general,

district attorney, state’s attorney, or city attorney) for violations

of state law.

• In some states, the state attorney general may have jurisdiction

in criminal as well as civil cases. The U.S. Department of Justice

may also have jurisdiction over some civil cases.

A local, state, or federal

prosecutor or other attorney

familiar with criminal civil

rights law should teach this

session. It is also critical to

research and identify any

relevant changes in federal

and state law that may have

occurred since this curriculum

was drafted, and amend the

lesson as necessary.

Note to Instructor

The following transparency

stresses that hate crime

laws play multiple roles in

the criminal justice system.

This is a good opportunity

to stress to participants

that hate crime laws protect

all citizens, not just those

in certain “groups.”
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Explain to participants that bias crime laws serve multiple societal purposes, and

review the points in Transparency D1, “Importance of Bias Crime Laws.”

IMPORTANCE OF BIAS CRIME LAWS

■ Provide a means for enforcement

■ Aid in deterrence

■ Send zero tolerance message to perpetrators and community

■ Protect vulnerable groups/individuals from harm

■ Send message to victims that these crimes will be dealt with

aggressively

■ Set societal norms

■ Express the collective belief that our country is stronger when we

protect all citizens

■ Maintain social order1

Ask participants if they can identify other reasons for bias crime legislation.

Overview of State Laws

Explain the following:

• Nearly all states have enacted legislation targeted specifically at criminal

acts of bias.

• The largest number of criminal prosecutions occur as a result of violations

of state law, rather than federal.

• Many states also provide a separate civil cause of action remedy that

often includes injunctive relief, compensatory and punitive damages,

attorney’s fees, and/or enhanced penalties.

• The majority of the laws protect against racial, religious, ethnic, and

national origin bias.

• Some states, however, have expanded their bias crime laws to include

protection against bias related to sexual orientation, gender, disability,

age, and/or political affiliation.

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Explain that, in addition to criminal penalty laws for bias-motivated crimes, most

states have additional laws that may apply to bias crime cases. Review the different

types of laws by using Transparency D2, “Categories of State Bias Crime Laws.”

CATEGORIES OF STATE BIAS CRIME LAWS

The majority of states have laws under one or more of the following categories:2

Criminal Penalty Laws

■ Criminalize certain acts committed due to prejudice

■ Provide enhanced penalties

■ Include several types of criminal statutes:

– Institutional vandalism: Prohibit vandalism and defacement of a

variety of locations and institutions, including houses of worship,

cemeteries, schools, public monuments, and community centers.

– Bias-motivated violence and intimidation: Make it illegal to

intimidate, harass, assault, or trespass on the property of an

individual because of the person’s race, religion, national origin,

and, in some states, gender, sexual orientation, etc.

– Interference with religious worship: Prohibit acts that disrupt an

ongoing religious service; they also prohibit stealing a scroll,

religious vestment, or other object normally used in a religious

service.

Cross-Burning Laws

■ Prohibit cross burning or the burning of other symbols

Mask-Wearing Laws

■ Ban the wearing of hoods, robes, masks, or other disguises in public,

except during holidays and parades

Paramilitary Training Laws

■ Prohibit military-style training camps, such as those sometimes run by

racist organizations

Civil Cause of Action Laws

■ Civil remedies may include injunctive relief, compensatory and punitive

damages, and attorney’s fees (these forms of relief may have a

significant deterrent effect and should encourage victims to bring civil

lawsuits)

Parental Liability Laws

■ Make parents financially liable for their children’s crimes

Data Collection Laws

■ Require state and/or local police agencies to gather and sometimes

disseminate statistics on the incidence of bias crime

Police Training Laws

■ Require law enforcement personnel to receive training in identifying,

reporting, and investigating bias-motivated crimes

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© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Note to Instructor

Explain that there are different models of state criminal and civil statutes. For

instructors’ and participants’ reference, statutory information for each state is

provided in Appendices B and C in this curriculum. You may wish to reproduce

these pages and distribute them as handouts. They are useful for understanding the

differences in state statutes and comparing individual states with national trends.

Review the actual language of your state’s laws. Special legal issues

to address include the following:

• Identify and review each essential element of your state’s

criminal statutes relevant to bias crime. Define each element in

lay terms and discuss the impact of case law on the application

of each statute, which will make the information relevant to

law enforcement and victim assistance professionals.

• If possible, describe how courts have interpreted—or are likely

to interpret—your state statutes, their provisions, and the legal

standards to be applied.

Specific legal questions to address with participants may include the following:

• Does bias need to be the sole, the predominant, or a motivating factor?

• What specific bias motivations are covered by your state’s statutes (e.g.,

race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, disability,

gender, etc.)?

• Does the statute apply to a case with mixed motives?

• Does the statute require proof of bias or prejudice, or do you only need to

show that the victim was targeted because of his or her status or

affiliation? (For example, with a “because of” statute, the perpetrator

could be prosecuted under hate crime law for selecting an Asian

American for robbery and attack because he believes that Asian

Americans carry a lot of money with them, or for targeting a gay victim

because he believes such a victim would be more vulnerable to attack.)

• What is necessary to provide force or threat of force under the statute?

• What amount of force is necessary to violate the statute?

• What is necessary to prove a joint venture or conspiracy under the

statute?

• How are the penalties applied under the statute?

Overview of Federal Civil Rights Laws

Many criminal acts of bias can be prosecuted under federal criminal civil rights

statutes. The FBI has jurisdiction to investigate these criminal acts, and investigations are frequently conducted in collaboration with state and local law

enforcement agencies.

Insert your state’s particular

criminal, civil, and bias crime

reporting statute(s) here in the

text of the curriculum. Create

Transparency D3, “Your

State’s Criminal, Civil, and

Data Reporting Statutes,” and

use it in the session.
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Session D. Bias Crime and the Law

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Explain the limitations of the federal civil rights statutes:

• Currently, federal remedies only protect victims who are threatened or

attacked while they are exercising a federally protected right, such as

riding public transportation, eating in a restaurant, renting an apartment,

or buying a home.

• Most federal statutes apply only to acts motivated by racial or religious

prejudice. This excludes a number of bias crime categories from

prosecution and civil relief.

• Legislation pending in Congress would expand federal jurisdiction

over hate crime cases. (See below for more information on pending

legislation.)

Overview of Federal Criminal Statutes

Distribute Handout D1, “Federal Criminal Statutes” and use Transparency D4 to

review the main concepts.

FEDERAL CRIMINAL STATUTES

Congress has enacted laws that provide both criminal and civil remedies to victims

of bias-motivated crime. Four principal federal criminal statutes concern race-,

skin color-, religion-, and national origin-related violence by private individuals:

18 USC Section 241: Conspiracy Against Rights of Citizens

■ Broadly prohibits conspiracies to injure any person who is exercising

rights protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.

■ Has been applied to a variety of federal rights, including the right to

hold property, the right to enjoy public accommodations, and the right

to occupy a home free from racially motivated violence.

18 USC Section 245: Forcible Interference with Civil Rights/Federally

Protected Activities

■ Enacted in 1968 in response to violent attacks on civil rights workers in

the South.

■ Prohibits intentional interference, by force or threat of force, with

certain specified constitutional rights, where the interference is

motivated by race, color, religion, or national origin. Activities

protected under this law include the following:

• Enrollment in a public school or college

• Participation in programs administered or financed by any state

• Federal and state employment and jury service

• Interstate travel by common carrier

• Use of restaurants, lodging, gas stations, public entertainment

facilities, and other establishments serving the public

(continued)

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18 USC Section 247: Damage to Religious Property/Obstruction of Religious

Activity (Church Arson Prevention Act)

■ Prohibits damaging or destroying religious property because of its

religious nature.

■ Prohibits intentionally defacing, damaging, or destroying religious

property because of the race, color, or ethnic characteristics of any

individual associated with that property.

■ Prohibits interference with religious exercise, without regard to race, if

a connection with interstate commerce can be shown.

42 USC Section 3631: Willful Interference with Civil Rights Under the

Fair Housing Act

■ Prohibits forcible interference with any person in selling, purchasing,

renting, financing, occupying, or contracting for any dwelling due to

that person’s race, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability or

family status.

A fifth federal criminal statute governs civil rights violations under “color of law”:

18 USC Section 242: Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law

■ Prohibits willful deprivation of constitutional and federal statutory

rights, but only those deprived by reason of race, color, or ethnicity.

■ Most frequently used to prosecute violent misconduct by law enforcement officials, but can be used against other officials or anyone

purporting to be an official while committing such acts as sexual

assault or deprivation of due process.

The federal government also has authority to enhance penalties for federal crimes

motivated by bias:

Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act (Section 280003 of Public Law

103-322)

■ Enacted into law as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law

Enforcement Act of 1994.

■ If a perpetrator commits any federal crime and chooses the victim on

the basis of race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability,

or sexual orientation, this evidence can be used to impose enhanced

penalties.

■ This is the first federal hate crime legislation to include gender,

disability, and sexual orientation as protected categories.

■ Jurisdiction, however, is limited to federal crimes.

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Session D. Bias Crime and the Law

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Overview of Federal Civil Statutes

Use Transparency D5 and distribute Handout D2, “Federal Civil Statutes.”

FEDERAL CIVIL STATUTES

Several federal statutes provide civil redress for victims of bias-motivated violence

by private individuals:

42 USC Sections 1981 and 1982: Civil Actions Under the Civil Rights Act

of 1866

Both sections of this statute originated in Section 1 of the Civil Rights Act of

1866, enacted by Congress shortly after ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment,

which prohibited slavery.

• Section 1981 states that “all persons within the jurisdiction of the

United States shall have the same right in every State and Territory to

make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the

full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of

persons and property as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be

subject to punishment, pains, penalties, taxes, licenses, and exactions

of every kind, and to no other.”

• Section 1982 ensures equal rights for citizens in terms of personal

property. Damage awards under both sections often include compensatory damages for emotional distress or humiliation. Injunctive relief is

also available under Section 1981.

42 USC Section 1985 (3): Conspiracy to Deprive Any Person or Class of

Persons of Equal Protection of the Laws

• Enacted by Congress as part of the Ku Klux Klan Act to provide redress

for victims of Klan offenses during Reconstruction.

• Imposes civil liability on anyone who conspires to deprive another

individual or class of people of “the equal protection of the laws or of

equal privileges and immunities under the laws.” Compensatory and

punitive damages can be awarded under this section.

42 USC Section 3617: Interference, Coercion, or Intimidation in Violation

of the Fair Housing Act

• Created a statutory civil cause of action for anyone coerced, threatened,

intimidated, or interfered with for exercising rights granted under

Sections 3603, 3604, 3605, or 3606 of the Fair Housing Act. Restricts

punitive damages to $1,000.

42 USC Section 13981: Violence Against Women Act of 1994

• Establishes a federal civil rights cause of action for victims of crimes of

violence motivated by gender.

• Makes the offender liable for compensatory damages to the victim and

authorizes injunctive and declaratory relief to protect the victim.

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Session D. Bias Crime and the Law

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Use Transparency D6, “Federal Hate Crime Statistics Act.”

FEDERAL HATE CRIME STATISTICS ACT

28 USC Section 534: Federal Hate Crime Statistics Act

■ Signed into law in April 1990; amended in 1994 and 1996.

■ Requires the U.S. Attorney General to collect data and publish an

annual summary on crimes that manifest prejudice based on race,

religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or disability.

■ The Attorney General has delegated responsibilities under the Act to

the director of the FBI. The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports Section

develops the procedures for and manages the implementation of the

collection of hate crime data.

■ This statute helps identify the geographical location and the nature

and types of bias crime occurring in the United States.

■ The effectiveness of the law depends on its implementation by and

support from state and local law enforcement officials. Your

department or law enforcement agency should report all bias crimes

to the appropriate state and federal reporting agencies, using the

standardized reporting form.

RECONCILING BIAS CRIME AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT3

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of

religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or

abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the

right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition

the Government for a redress of grievances.

Note that the Fourteenth Amendment makes the First Amendment applicable to the states as well.

1. Free speech goals of the First Amendment:

• Citizens may express their political beliefs and opposition to

government without government reprisal.

• Society and government are better off when free exchange of

political ideas and views is encouraged rather than chilled.

• The government may not choose which political beliefs it

finds acceptable or unacceptable.

2. What constitutes speech? It may be written, oral, public, or

private. It may be used for political or commercial purposes.

D6

D3

Note to Instructor

The issue of free speech and

its relevance to hate crime

law is widely debated in both

public and legal forums.

Depending on your audience

and the time available, you

may wish to review this

information on freedom of

speech issues and their

relevance to bias crimes.

Cases 1–3 present issues that

are applicable to a discussion

of free speech protections.

This section is also provided

as Handout D3, “Reconciling

Bias Crime and the First

Amendment.” (continued)
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Session D. Bias Crime and the Law

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3. The First Amendment protects speech, not conduct. Forms of speech include

the following:

• Symbolic speech to convey a message, e.g., picketing, boycotts, T-shirts

with political statements, arm bands, and flag burning (all deemed

protected speech)

• Anti-government (political) speech; anti-censorship protection for

unpopular political speech

• Freedom not to speak, pray, or salute the flag

• Offensive speech of many types

• Speech that reflects bias or prejudice; racist, anti-religious, or sexist

speech is generally protected, even if it includes use of slurs or epithets

(unless incidental to conduct or used when communicating ideas in a

threatening, intimidating, or coercive manner)

4. Exceptions to First Amendment protections for speech include the following:

• Threats of force, i.e., language placing a person in reasonable fear of

physical injury

• Slander or libel

• Pornography/obscenity

• Fighting words, where speech is directed at a particular person or

group of persons and is said in a manner that causes a hostile, physical

reaction that tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace

• “Captive audience speech,” i.e., it is constitutional, with appropriate

limitations consistent with court decisions, to limit, by statue or

ordinance, the picketing of private homes (Carey v Brown, 1980)

• Clear and present danger to public safety, e.g., falsely yelling “Fire!”

in a theater or inciting others to immediate violent action

• National security, i.e., speech that can constitute treason

• False and deceptive advertising

• Where speech is incidental to conduct, i.e., it is not the idea being

expressed that is being punished, but the intolerable mode of

expressing the idea the speaker wishes to convey (e.g., during a

beating, the perpetrator says, “I hate blacks.”) (Wisconsin v. Mitchell,

1993)

• Solicitation crime, e.g., asking a person to murder one’s spouse for

payment of $10,000.

• Words used that tend to prove discriminatory motive, i.e., words

expressing discriminatory motive are admissible to prove employment,

D3

(continued)
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Session D. Bias Crime and the Law

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

housing, public accommodation, credit, and other forms of discrimination; words expressing a discriminatory animus may serve as evidence

of the prohibited conduct (for example, to prove reason for failure to

promote) or may constitute the prohibited conduct itself

• Racial, religious, or sexual harassment in schools and workplace, i.e.,

discriminatory language used to verbally harass another in a confined

environment, such as a school setting or place of employment, may be

admissible to prove unlawful harassment; for example, a sexual

harassment claim may be proven by evidence of unwelcome, offensive

verbal comments of a sexual nature that creates an intimidating or

hostile school or work environment

Note: Speech may fall into more than one category of exception.

On most occasions speech that reflects a person’s prejudice cannot be punished.

But at times, mere words may cause a reasonable person to feel threatened,

intimidated, or coerced (e.g., “I’m going to kill you because I hate Catholics.”). In

that case, a person is not punished for his or her beliefs or offensive thoughts, but

for language deemed the equivalent of conduct.

Application of judgment and experience is needed to determine whether speech or

writings constitute a criminal threat. Fact patterns are not always clear, and

reasonable discretion and reasoned judgment are crucial in determining whether a

bias crime, giving rise to civil or criminal liability, has occurred. Prior to arresting

or prosecuting a suspect for a bias crime for a written or verbal statement, law

enforcement officials and prosecutors need to carefully examine the context in

which the statement was made.

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II. Activity: Criminal Law Case Application and Discussion

(30 minutes)

(The cases in this session were reprinted with permission of Assistant Attorney

General Richard Cole, Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, Civil Rights Division.)

Refer participants to Transparency D7, “Criminal Case Illustrations,” and read the

first part of Case 1 aloud. Discuss this case and the following cases with the entire

group. There are six cases; if you run out of time, use only the cases that best suit

your audience.

Case 1 attempts to identify what constitutes offensive or “hate speech” protected by

the First Amendment, and what differentiates it from words that may constitute a

criminal violation (e.g., a threat of bodily harm directed at a specific person or

group of persons).

Case 1

On a Saturday morning, a man stands in a section of your town or

city Common; he uses anti-Semitic epithets and makes offensive

remarks (e.g., “All Jews should die,” “It’s a shame Hitler wasn’t successful in

exterminating the Jews”).

• Does this constitute a violation of any state criminal law? (No)

• Do these remarks constitute a threat of harm? Do they place those

present in reasonable fear of physical injury or damage? (No, probably

not)

• Were these remarks directed at any individual? (No)

• Does that make a difference in analyzing whether these remarks

constitute a violation of criminal law? (Yes)

• Is this protected speech under the First Amendment to the U.S.

Constitution or under your state constitution? (Yes)

This man also hands out hate literature.

• Would this in any way change your analysis of whether this constitutes

a crime? (No)

• Is this protected speech under the federal and state constitutions? (Yes)

This man also self-identifies as a member of a neo-Nazi group.

• Does that change your analysis of this problem? (No)

Assume that this same man sets up a kiosk on the side of a Jewish religious

parade; hundreds of Jews walk past the kiosk as the epithets are made.

• Would that in any way change whether he violated criminal law? (No)

• Would it change how you would handle the matter if you were at the

scene at that time? (You may consider altering the parade route to

separate parade participants and the man making the remarks, or

provide police barriers to create greater distance between the

participants and this man.)

D7

Case Study
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Case #2 and Case #3 illustrate that a change of a single fact—in this case, the size

differential between the perpetrator and victim—may affect whether language

constitutes a criminal offense (threat).

Case 2

An 11-year-old black girl sees a 6'5" 250-pound white male in full

uniform exercising on the high school football field in the heart of

a black neighborhood in your town or city. She walks up to him, stands inches

away, and says in a loud voice, “This field is in a black neighborhood, white boy.

Stay out of my neighborhood.”

• Are there bias indicators present? (Yes) What are they? (Different

races, use of epithets, statement based on racial differences, incident

occurred in predominately black neighborhood)

• Can the girl be charged under any state criminal (hate crime) law?

(No) Why not? (Legally, the incident does not constitute a threat or

intimidation)

• Does the incident constitute a threat? (No; based on these facts, the

250-pound white man would not reasonably believe that he was at risk

of physical injury in this circumstance)

• What other evidence would you need for the incident to constitute a

threat? (Other evidence that may have led the white man to be

reasonably placed in fear by the small girl, e.g., whether or not she was

holding a weapon at the time, whether others appeared to be participating with her in a joint venture, etc.)

• Does this constitute a bias incident? (Yes)

Case 3

A 6'5" white man sees an 11-year-old black girl

walking on the football field at a high school in

the heart of an all-white neighborhood. He walks up to her and,

standing inches away, leans down and says in a powerful voice,

“This is a white neighborhood, blackey. Get out of my neighborhood.”

• Does this constitute a threat, creating reasonable fear of

physical injury or damage? (Yes)

• What specific factors led you to conclude that the language

constitutes a threat? (Words directed at a specific person;

size, strength, age, and gender differences; close physical

proximity; tone of voice)

• Are all the necessary elements met to charge under your

state’s criminal civil rights statute? (Review facts of each

element for each relevant statute)

Note to Instructor

The answers to some of the

questions in Cases 3, 4, and 5

depend upon the details of

your state’s relevant statutes.

Review the questions in

advance and be prepared with

the correct answers.

Case Study

Case Study
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Case 4 illustrates that many cases have mixed motives. Even when hate language is

used, bias motivation may not be the catalyst or cause for the incident. Hate

language at times can be incidental to—and result from—anger, rather than bias or

prejudice against the victim’s group.

Case 4

A white and an Asian American family are neighbors. Both have

lived in their adjoining houses for three years without any

problems. One Saturday, the father of the Asian American family cuts down an

oak tree located on the property of the white neighbor’s house, mistakenly

believing it is on his side of the property line. The father of the white family

observes this, runs out, yells racial epithets, and punches the Asian American

man in the face.

• Are there bias indicators present? (Yes) What are they? (Different

races, use of racial epithets)

• What do you believe was the motivating factor for this incident?

(Cutting down the tree) Were there more than one? (Possibly

underlying bias against Asian Americans)

• Does this conduct constitute a violation of any state or federal criminal

law? (Yes) Which ones? (Review relevant state statute[s])

• How do you determine if a bias motive is involved? (Investigator needs

to determine the perpetrator’s attitude toward neighbors and the nature

of the relationship prior to this dispute. For example, were they social

friends, or did they exchange few words over the years? Did the

perpetrator ever express unhappiness over having Asian American

neighbors?)

• Assuming that you conclude there are mixed motives that led to the

incident or contributed to its seriousness (e.g., the tree cutting and

anti-Asian bias), does that make a difference as to whether one can

prosecute under your state’s hate crime statute?

– Does bias motivation need to be the sole or primary motivation

for conduct, or can it be one of the motivating factors in order to

prosecute under your state’s statute?

– Could a person be prosecuted under your state’s statute if you

conclude that the incident became more violent because of bias,

even though the catalyst for the initial dispute was based on

race-neutral factors?

– Would you still list it as a bias crime under the Hate Crime

Statistics Act?

Same scenario as above, except that the Asian American family just moved into

the house the week before and has had no contact with the neighbors.

• Are there bias indicators present? (Yes) What are they? (Different

races, use of racial epithets, recently moved into neighborhood)

(continued)

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• What do you believe was the motivating factor for this incident? (Racial

differences and tree cutting) Were there more than one? (Yes, but racial

difference was probably the predominant motive)

• Would it change your conclusion if the perpetrator was friendly with

another Asian American family residing on the street or in the neighborhood? (This may indicate anti-Asian bias was not involved, or was not

the primary motive)

• Does this conduct constitute a violation of any criminal laws? Which

ones?

• Does the fact that the Asian family just moved into the house in any way

change your analysis of the perpetrator’s motivation? (Yes, more likely

racial bias was a factor)

Case 5 attempts to identify the investigative steps needed to properly assess whether

a civil rights violation or hate crime occurred versus a situation in which the couple

was randomly selected. The case requires discussion of statutory elements to

determine if they are applicable when no direct physical confrontation or violence is

involved. It is also important to have participants identify not only the relevant

criminal civil rights statutes but also the general criminal laws that govern this

situation.

Case 5

An interracial couple lives in a deserted area or on a dead-end

street in your town or city. On two occasions, in the dark of night,

three high school youths throw numerous eggs at their house. The family is

home, but the youths run away before the family members are able to go outside

to confront the perpetrators. Also assume that this couple has spoken out

publicly about bias and prejudice in the town, and, in fact, has published an

article in the local newspaper about what they believe is rampant racism in the

town.

• What information would you want to know before determining whether

this was a hate crime? (e.g., did any of the youths knew who lived in

the home? Were other houses also egged? Egged twice?)

• Was this house selected randomly? What facts would lead you to

conclude that it was not a random attack? (The couple lived in a

deserted area; they had been targeted on two separate occasions.)

• Does the time of year this occurred matter (e.g., Halloween versus

another period during the year)? (Possibly)

• Assuming these youths are later identified, with whom would you want

to communicate to determine if any of the youths has engaged in

similar conduct? (School officials, neighbors)

(continued)

Case Study
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• What else would you want to learn about these youths? (Their

attitudes toward interracial couples and whether they have made

openly biased statements)

• How does one go about determining the potential motivation of these

youths (i.e., was it that the victims were an interracial couple, or

because of their outspoken views, or for some other reason)? (Find

out if any of the youths had made statements to friends, family, or

school personnel indicating a biased attitude or motive either before or

after the incident. Law enforcement should attempt to elicit

expressions of bias during interrogation of the suspects.)

• For purposes of the investigation, would it matter what the emotional

reaction of the family was to these egging attacks? (Yes) Why? (The

victims’ experience of the incident as threatening or intimidating may

be a necessary element of the crime. It may also determine the nature

of the law enforcement response to the victims.)

• Since there was no direct physical confrontation or violence against a

person, would this case still constitute a violation of a criminal civil

rights law (e.g., a law that prohibits intentionally damaging property

to intimidate a person because of his or her race for associating with

a person of another race, or for advocating certain views)? (Review

statutes to answer this and the following questions.)

• Would this conduct constitute intimidation or coercion? Would that

make a difference in terms of the applicability of the criminal civil

rights statute?

• Under your state’s statute, does it matter if the perpetrators believed

the couple was an interracial couple and this turned out not to be

true?

Assume that you are able to develop evidence that the youths engaged in this

conduct to intimidate the couple from speaking out in the future about racial bias

and prejudice in your area.

• Do any civil rights or other criminal statutes apply in that situation?

• For purposes of charging the youths, would it matter to you that these

youths were honor students rather than known troublemakers?

– Are less serious charges appropriate based on the background of

the perpetrators? Could this lead to the wrong message being

received by the community? (Yes, an effort needs to be made to

detail reasons to the public.)

– What are the risks if the community then perceived that the

police did not take the incident seriously? (e.g., it creates the risk

of vigilante-type retaliation if members of the community believe

the police response was inadequate; engenders distrust of police

by the targeted community)
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Case 6 should elicit discussion as to the applicable criminal civil rights statutes

when buildings used for religious purposes are defaced. It also raises the problem

regarding the occasional tension between victims’ desires to remove hate symbols

and hate graffiti as soon as possible versus the investigative need of the police to

preserve the evidence.

Case 6

On Easter Sunday, two youths write antiCatholic graffiti on a church, which includes

threats against the parishioners such as, “You will all die.”

• What criminal (civil rights) statutes may be applicable

in this situation? (Review state statutes to answer this

and the following questions.)

• In reviewing the elements of those criminal statutes, do

you have enough information at this point to charge

the youths (assuming you identify the perpetrators)?

• What other facts do you need to learn in order to be

able to charge under those statutes?

• What steps would you take to preserve evidence in this

case? (Photograph graffiti and analyze the type of

paint or marker used by the perpetrators)

• How do you deal with the priest’s request that the

graffiti be painted over immediately—before you are

able to photograph the evidence? (Recognize the desire

to eliminate these visible expressions of hatred on a

house of worship, but indicate that if the graffiti is

removed prematurely, the police may never be able to

identify or prosecute the perpetrators. Assure the

priest that the police will make every effort to complete

this portion of the investigation immediately.)

Assume that the reporter from the local newspaper sees you

on the scene seconds after you arrive and asks you whether

this constitutes a hate crime. How do you respond?

Note to Instructor

Explain to participants that,

at times, criminal justice

professionals are placed in

the very difficult position of

being asked to comment on a

situation in which the wrong

response may polarize a

community or escalate a

situation. If a comment must

be made, it is best to simply

state that the incident is

viewed very seriously, but that

any statement about motive

would be premature until a

thorough investigation is

completed.

Case Study
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III. Optional Activity: Drafting Civil Rights Injunctions

(20 minutes)

Review with the participants the information below.

Advantages of Civil Rights Injunctions

• The availability of a lower standard of proof—preponderance

of evidence

• The speed with which a temporary restraining order can be

obtained

• The inadequacy of criminal law to deal with some types of

violations

• The unlimited duration of a permanent injunction as

compared to the specific and, at times, quite brief, period in

which controls are placed on the perpetrator as conditions of

probation or through a “stay-away” order pending trial

• The deterrent effect of a criminal sanction for violations of

restraining orders or injunctions

Civil injunctions can be granted by the court to keep the accused away from the

victims. Allegations do not have to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, the

standard for proving a criminal offense. Instead, the prosecution need only

convince the judge that the allegations are probably true (preponderance of

evidence is the standard in civil cases).

Scope of Civil Rights Injunctions

• The scope of the injunction is often a key issue in injunction hearings

before the court:

– The court will want to provide protection to the victim without

unreasonably restricting activity of the defendant.

– This represents a case-by-case balancing.

• An injunction can do the following:

– Protect the actual victim and other individuals from similar

interference with secured rights

– Protect witnesses/family members

– Restrain perpetrators from going near the victim, her or his

residence, neighborhood, place of employment, school, etc. (100

feet is the usual distance proposed, but up to 500 feet has been

requested and granted in appropriate circumstances)

– Restrain individual from being in “own backyard,” if it is reasonable and necessary

– Prohibit communication with victim and witnesses, except through

law enforcement or prosecutor’s office

– Prohibit filing of frivolous civil or criminal complaints against the

victim

– Require notification of Attorney General’s office before the filing of

any court action against the victim

Note to Instructor

If your state is among the

majority of states that have

no injunctive relief

remedies, then devote this

time to a discussion of any

cases in the previous section

that were not covered. If

your state civil rights law

allows for an injunctive

relief remedy, create a

transparency outlining the

relevant state statute(s) and

discuss it with participants.
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• An injunction prohibits otherwise lawful conduct, for example:

– Being present on certain streets or neighborhoods

– Communicating with the victim or his or her family

• In some states, an injunction increases the exposure to higher criminal

penalties for the same conduct

• In some states, civil rights injunctions are applicable to juveniles

Factors to Consider in Determining Whether to Pursue Injunctive

Relief

• Seriousness of incident (does not need to be a criminal violation)

• Language used during incident; words alone are usually not enough to

constitute a violation of law

– First Amendment-protected language versus actual threats, or

words that intimidate or coerce a person

• Threats, intimidation, coercion, or harassment involved (violence or actual

threat of violence not necessary)

• Prior conduct against victim (pattern of conduct)

• Likelihood of future contact between parties

• Relationship of the perpetrator and victim, if any, before the incident

• Whether the offender targeted or selected the victim because of his or her

race, religion, ethnic background, gender, sexual orientation, or disability

status

• Whether the primary motivation for the action(s) was based on bias

• Whether the offender has a history of prior bias-motivated incidents

against other victims (pattern of bias-motivated conduct)

• Criminal record of the perpetrator

• Likely impact of an injunction on future conduct

• Whether the perpetrator is a member of a hate group and has interfered

with victim’s rights in any way connected to involvement with that group

• Whether a criminal prosecution is occurring for the same offense; issues

to consider include the following:

– Likelihood of incarceration (injunction would probably be denied if

offender is incarcerated, unless it is proven that a serious threat of

violence will continue once the offender is released and incarceration is not for a lengthy period, or unless demonstrated threat

would continue while in prison—but this carries a very difficult

burden of proof)

– Length of potential incarceration (injunction outlives length of

probation)

– Date of trial (soon or in months)
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– Whether the stay-away order, as a condition of bail, will be a

sufficient deterrent and protect the victim and witnesses

– Potential negative impact of injunctive action on criminal

prosecution

– Whether the potential offender may act in the future to threaten or

intimidate others (who were not the victims of this incident) based

on their status

– Likelihood of success (general success rate has important deterrent

effect against potential perpetrators)

Drafting Civil Rights Injunctions

Use Transparency D8, “Civil Injunction: Case Illustration.”

CIVIL INJUNCTION: CASE ILLUSTRATION

Case 7

The Torreses, a Hispanic family, move onto a street in a predominately white

area of your city or town. Their home is next to a large baseball field and

playground. Shortly after they move in, they begin experiencing harassment.

On one occasion, their car is tipped over; on another, their car is vandalized.

• Are bias indicators present? (Yes) What are they? (Hispanics living

in predominately white area, Hispanic family recently moved in, car

tipped over—unusual occurrence [important factor])

• What steps do you take to determine the identity of the perpetrators of

these two separate incidents? (Canvas the neighborhood, identify and

interview individuals who use the field, perhaps set up video camera

to monitor the house for further incidents)

• What violations of criminal (civil rights) statutes may the conduct

involve? (42 USC Section 3631, forcible interference with occupying

a dwelling)

• What other facts do you need to learn in order to charge perpetrators

under any of these statutes? (Prior incidents against)

This harassment culminated in an incident that occurred two weeks ago. On that

day, the Torreses drove down their street, followed by a Hispanic family who lived

nearby. As they drove, they were accosted by a group of 15–20 white males and

females. One of the white males, John C., yelled a racial comment at the Torreses.

John C. then stood in front of the Torres’ car, blocking its forward movement, and

began to strike their car with a tire iron. The Torreses drove past him down the

street and went to a barbecue at their friends’ home.

• What potential civil rights were denied by the actions of the youths?

(The right to travel; the right to access to public accommodation, which

includes access to the streets; the right to live in housing free of ethnic

harassment)

(continued)

D8

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• What criminal (civil rights) statutes may be violated here? (The right

to travel; the right to access to public accommodation, which includes

access to the streets; the right to live in housing free of ethnic

harassment)

• Is a civil injunctive order an available law enforcement tool in your

state to deter future conduct by these youths? If so, what would you

want a court to order these white youths to do or not to do? (Options

include prohibiting any form of future harassment or violence;

prohibiting approaching within a specified distance of the family,

house, car, and field; prohibiting communication with family or

witnesses; prohibiting encouraging or causing another person to

engage in prohibited conduct)

– Can court orders be drafted to deter all the youths, even if you

are unable to identify all the youths who participated? (Yes, by

obtaining an order against the named defendants as well as

others participating or acting in concert with the named

defendants, and then serving the other youths with the order)

– Can an order be issued that prohibits these individuals from

also threatening, assaulting, coercing, or intimidating any other

Hispanic family located in your town or city or in your state?

(Yes)

– If so, do you have effective systems in place for being notified if

one of the youths perpetrates a bias crime against another

Hispanic family outside your city and town or in another

section of your city or town?

• What steps would you take to try to deal with the racial tensions and

reduce the likelihood of recurrence? (Hold community meetings and

discussions with community groups and leaders, make a public

statement that the conduct will not be tolerated in your community)

Assume that two days after a court order was issued for the youths to stay away

from that particular street and the park, one of the defendants showed up in the

park across from the Torreses’ house and began yelling at the family.

• Would that constitute a violation of the order you have drafted? (Yes)

• What are the potential penalties for violation of this order?

• If you were informed of the violation of the order, would you have a

right to arrest without needing to obtain an arrest warrant?

• What would you explain to the victim about the maximum penalty for

violating your injunctive order if a member of the Hispanic family were

actually struck by one of the youths?

• How would you write the police report in this case in order to assist in

the prosecution of this individual for violation of the injunction?

(Detail conduct, existence of order, nature of the violation of the order).

D8
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Divide participants into small groups and ask each group to draft

injunctions appropriate to this case. Encourage participants to be

creative.

When the activity is completed, convene entire group. Ask

volunteers to write their draft injunctions on a flipchart. Ask

participants from the entire group to review and comment on the

appropriate language in the injunctions. Caution participants that

they should seek counsel from the appropriate prosecutorial

jurisdiction (local county district attorney or state’s attorney and/or

state attorney general).

IV. Presentation: Emerging Legal Issues (10 minutes)

Constitutionality

Explain that the constitutionality of some federal and state bias crime laws and

municipal ordinances have been challenged in the courts:

• In 1992, the Supreme Court reviewed R.A.V. v St. Paul, in which

an adolescent was accused of burning a cross in the yard of the

only African American family in a neighborhood. He was

charged with a misdemeanor for violating a city ordinance that

bans the display of a swastika, burning cross, or any symbol that

“arouses anger, alarm, or resentment in others on the basis of

race, color, creed, religion, or gender.” The Supreme Court struck

down the St. Paul ordinance on the basis that it violated the First

Amendment’s guarantee of free speech. As a result of this ruling,

some hate crime statutes that criminalize bias-motivated speech

may not survive constitutional challenges.

• In its 1993 review of Wisconsin v Mitchell, the Court unanimously upheld a Wisconsin statute that provides for enhanced

penalties for hate-motivated crimes. In this case, the defendant,

an African American youth, incited a group of friends who had

just watched the film Mississippi Burning to “move on some

white people.” The group subsequently assaulted a 14-year-old

white teenager. The defendant was sentenced to two years in

prison for aggravated battery and had two additional years added

to his sentence because the crime was racially motivated. The

Court’s ruling in this case provides an important protection for

penalty-enhancement statutes for hate crimes.

Note to Instructor

If time allows, this hands-on

activity is an excellent

learning tool for participants.

Note to Instructor

Wisconsin v Mitchell does

not preclude states from

deciding that penaltyenhancement laws violate

their own state constitutions’

free speech provisions. Thus

far, four such challenges have

been presented, but state

courts in Oregon, Wisconsin,

Washington, and Ohio have

upheld the constitutionality

of their respective hate crime

penalty-enhancement

statutes.4
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Hate Crime Prevention Act

Legislation pending in Congress would expand federal jurisdiction

over hate crime cases. The Hate Crime Prevention Act, a bill offered in

both Houses of Congress for the past several sessions, would amend 18

U.S.C. 245 in two ways: (1) by adding sexual orientation, gender, and

disability to the list of protected categories (race, religion, and

ethnicity/national origin), and (2) by removing current restrictions that

enable prosecution only if the victim was attacked because he or she

was engaged in a federally protected activity.

Civil Suits Against Organized Hate Groups

A growing number of civil suits are being pursued against organized hate groups. In

a landmark case in Oregon, a jury awarded $10 million in punitive damages to the

estate of a black man who had been beaten to death by skinheads. The suit was

filed against both the murderers and Thomas Metzger, the president of the White

Aryan Resistance organization (WAR).

Gender Violence as Hate Crime5

Despite the similar characteristics of gender-based bias crimes and other bias crimes,

crimes motivated by gender bias have not been included in most anti-bias crime

legislation at either the federal or state levels. There is, however, a trend toward

including gender in bias crime legislation as a protected category. In 1990, only 7

of the 31 states with hate crime statutes included gender.6 As of January 1999, 20

states plus the District of Columbia include gender as a protected category in their

hate crime laws.

Discuss the inclusion of gender as a protected category under bias crime law and

the consideration of domestic violence and sexual assault cases as gender-based

bias crimes. Cover the following points:

• While women are often the victims of violence for the same reasons as

men (i.e., the reasons that prompt robbery, burglary, larceny, motor

vehicle theft, etc.), women are also victims of violence simply because

they are women.

• Attacks against women often suggest bias crime—from their lack of

provocation and/or lack of apparent motive, the severity of the attack, the

existence of mutilation, and the obvious intention to terrorize.

• The guidelines for identifying an act of violence as a bias crime can also

be applied to spouse or partner abuse.

• Suggestions that violence against women as women should be defined as

bias-motivated hate crime and included in anti-bias crime legislation

have met with some resistance. Concerns have been raised about the

efficacy of including gender in bias crime legislation, about the usefulness

of defining rape, battery, and murder of women as bias-motivated hate

crimes, and about the legitimacy of fashioning civil rights remedies for

such crimes.

Note to Instructor

Before teaching this section,

research the status of the

Hate Crime Prevention Act,

and amend the text as

necessary.
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Use Transparency D9, “Characteristics of Gender-Based Crimes,” and review the

major points.

CHARACTERISTICS OF GENDER-BASED CRIMES

Bias-motivated violence against women has characteristics similar to all other

types of hate violence, including the following:

■ Absence of other dominant motive

■ Excessive violence/lack of provocation: Many crimes against women

involve the excessive violence, including mutilation, that characterizes

bias-motivated crime. The ultimate example of hate violence against

women is that perpetrated by serial murderers, who usually mutilate

their victims, frequently binding, raping, and torturing them before

they murder them. Three of the four women students murdered in

August 1990 at the University of Florida in Gainesville were mutilated.

■ Community impact: The murders in Gainesville, Florida, traumatized

the entire university community and left women terrorized, fearful,

and intimidated—as bias crimes are intended to do.

■ Long-term harm: Bias crimes are significantly different from other

violent acts because of the motivation that provokes them and their

long-term impact. Not only do bias crimes victimize entire groups, but

their individual victims may suffer more serious harm than do other

crime victims. Bias crime victims are more likely to be attacked by

multiple perpetrators and suffer long-term psychological harm than are

victims of other crimes.7

 The subordination of women and its

attendant violence have long-term effects on women’s psychological

and physical health.

■ Intimidation of an entire group: Violence against one woman affects

all women. Virtually all women, whether or not they have been

victims of violence themselves, have been intimidated by the

pervasiveness of hate violence.

Use Transparency D10, “Gender Violence as Hate Crime: The Law.”

GENDER VIOLENCE AS HATE CRIME: THE LAW

■ As of January 2000, 20 states and the District of Columbia included

gender as a protected category under their hate crime statutes.

■ The proposed Hate Crime Prevention Act, first offered in Congress in

1997 and again in subsequent Congressional sessions, would add

gender-motivated crime as a protected bias crime category (along

with other new additions including crimes motivated by disability and

sexual orientation).

D9

(continued)

D10
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References

1

 Levin, J. and McDevitt, J. (Dec. 1998–Jan. 1999). Backlash to hate crime laws. CAHRO News. San

Francisco, CA: California Association of Human Relations Organizations (CAHRO). 2 Adapted from Berrill, K. (1992). Countering anti-gay violence through legislation. Washington, DC: The

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute. 3 Reprinted with permission of Assistant Attorney General Richard W. Cole, Massachusetts Attorney

General’s Office, Civil Rights Division. 4 Anti-Defamation League (1999). 1999 hate crimes laws. New York: Anti-Defamation League. 5 Adapted from Copeland, L. and Wolfe, L. R. (1991). Violence against women as bias-motivated hate crime:

Defining the issues. The Center for Women’s Policy Study. 6 Anti-Defamation League (1999). 1999 hate crimes laws. New York: Anti-Defamation League. 7 Klanwatch (1989, November 20). Special report: Outlawing hate crime. Montgomery, AL: Southern

Poverty Law Center. 8 Adapted from U.S. Department of Justice (1998). National hate crimes training curriculum: Multilevel

state and local law enforcement professionals. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice.

D10

■ The federal Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (42 USC 13981)

allows individuals to file federal civil lawsuits in gender-based

violence cases. This law, a comprehensive piece of legislation

addressing the increasing problem of violence against women, asserts

that “all persons within the United States shall have the right to be

free from crimes of violence motivated by gender.” The gender-bias

provision of the law makes the offender liable for compensatory and

punitive damage to the victim, and authorizes injunctive and

declaratory relief to protect the victim.

■ The federal Hate Crime Sentencing Enhancement Act includes gender

in its definition of bias crime.

■ The federal Hate Crime Statistics Act does not include gender among

its reporting requirements, and the FBI does not collect gender-based

hate crime data as part of its activities under this act. It does,

however, collect data on violent crimes against women within the

Uniform Crime Reporting System.

Use Transparency D11, “Legal Criteria for Determining Gender-Related Bias Crimes.”8

CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING GENDER-RELATED BIAS CRIMES

The following criteria can assist law enforcement officials in determining

whether an act should be treated as a gender-related bias crime:

■ Offender and victim are of different genders

■ Offender makes abusive or derogatory remarks based on gender

■ Offender articulates hatred for the gender as a group

■ Offender has multiple victims, and all of the same gender

■ A pattern of verbal, physical, and sexual abuse, control, or

domination of victims of the same gender can be established

D11
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

IMPORTANCE OF

BIAS CRIME LAWS

• Provide a means for enforcement

• Aid in deterrence

• Send zero tolerance message to perpetrators

and community

• Protect vulnerable groups and/or individuals

from harm

• Send message to victims that these crimes will

be dealt with aggressively

• Set societal norms

• Express the collective belief that our country is

stronger when we protect all citizens

• Maintain social order

Transparency D1
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

CATEGORIES OF STATE

BIAS CRIME LAWS

1. Criminal Penalty Laws

2. Cross-Burning Laws

3. Mask-Wearing Laws

4. Paramilitary Training Laws

5. Civil Cause of Action Laws

6. Parental Liability Laws

7. Data Collection Laws

8. Police Training Laws

Transparency D2
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

YOUR STATE’S CRIMINAL, CIVIL,

AND DATA REPORTING STATUTES

Transparency D3
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

FEDERAL CRIMINAL STATUTES

◆ 18 USC Section 241

Conspiracy Against Rights of Citizens

◆ 18 USC Section 245

Forcible Interference with Civil Rights/

Federally Protected Activities

◆ 18 USC Sections 247

Damage to Religious Property/Obstruction of

Religious Activity

◆ 42 USC Section 3631

Willful Interference with Civil Rights Under

the Fair Housing Act

◆ 18 USC Section 242

Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law

◆ Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act

(Section 280003 of Public Law 103-322)

Transparency D4
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Federal Criminal Statutes

◆ 18 USC Section 241: Conspiracy Against Rights broadly prohibits conspiracies to

injure any person who is exercising rights or privileges protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States. The statute has been applied to a variety of

federal rights, including the right not to be deprived of life without due process of

the law, the right to vote in a federal election, and the right to occupy a housing

free of racially motivated violence.

◆ 18 USC Section 245: Forcible Interference with Civil Rights/Federally Protected

Activities was enacted in 1968 in response to violent attacks on civil rights workers

in the South. It prohibits intentional interference, by force or threat of force, with

certain specified constitutional rights where interference is motivated by discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, or national origin. Activities protected

under this law include:

• enrollment in a public school or college

• participation in programs administered or financed by the United States or

by a state

• federal and state employment and jury service

• interstate travel by common carrier

• use of restaurants, lodging, gas stations, public entertainment facilities, and

other establishments serving the public

◆ 18 USC Sections 247 and 248: Damage to Religious Property/Obstruction of

Religious Activity prohibits damaging or destroying religious property because of the

religious nature of that property, or attempting to do so. Also prohibits intentionally defacing, damaging, or destroying religious property because of the race, color,

or ethnic characteristics of any individual associated with that property.

◆ 42 USC Section 3631: Willful Interference with Civil Rights Under the Fair Housing

Act prohibits forcible interference with any person in selling, purchasing, renting,

financing, occupying, or contracting for any dwelling due to that person’s race,

color, religion, sex, or national origin.

◆ 18 USC Section 242: Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law prohibits willful

deprivation of constitutional and federal statutory rights, but only those deprived

by reason of race, color, or ethnicity. It is most frequently used to prosecute violent

misconduct by law enforcement officials, but it can be employed against other

officials.

◆ Section 280003 of Public Law 103-22: Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act

allows for the imposition of enhanced penalties if a perpetrator commits any

Federal crime and chooses the victim on the basis of race, religion, national origin,

ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation.

Handout D1
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

FEDERAL CIVIL STATUTES

◆ 42 USC Sections 1981 and 1982

Civil Actions Under the Civil Rights Act

of 1866

◆ 42 USC Section 1985 (3)

Conspiracy to Deprive Any Person or Class

of Persons of Equal Protection of the Laws

◆ 42 USC Section 3617

Interference, Coercion, or Intimidation in

Violation of the Fair Housing Act

◆ 42 USC Section 13981

Violence Against Women Act

Transparency D5
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Federal Civil Statutes

◆ 42 USC Sections 1981 and 1982: Civil Actions Under The Civil Rights Act

of 1866

Both sections of this statute originated in Section 1 of the Civil Rights Act

of 1866 enacted by Congress shortly after ratification of the 13th Amendment which prohibited slavery.

Section 1981 states that “all persons within the jurisdiction of the

United States shall have the same right in every State and Territory to

make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the

full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of

persons and property as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be

subject to punishment, pains, penalties, taxes, licenses, and exactions of

every kind, and to no other.” Injunctive relief is also available.

Section 1982 ensures equal rights for citizens in terms of personal

property. Damage awards under both sections often include compensatory damages for emotional distress or humiliation.

◆ 42 USC Section 1985 (3): Conspiracy to Deprive any Person or Class of

Persons of Equal Protection of the Laws was enacted by Congress as part of

the Ku Klux Klan Act to provide redress for victims of Klan offenses during

Reconstruction. This law imposes civil liability on anyone who conspires to

deprive another individual or class of people of “the equal protection of the

laws or of equal privileges and immunities under the laws.” Compensatory

and punitive damages can be awarded under this section.

◆ 42 USC Section 3617: Interference, Coercion, or Intimidation in Violation

of the Fair Housing Act created a statutory civil cause of action for anyone

coerced, threatened, intimidated, or interfered with for exercising rights

granted under Sections 3603, 3604, 3605, or 3606 of the Fair Housing Act.

This statute restricts punitive damages to $1,000.

◆ 42 USC Section 13981: Violence Against Women Act of 1994 establishes a

Federal civil rights cause of action for victims of crimes of violence

motivated by gender. The statute makes the offender liable for compensatory damages to the victim and authorizes injunctive and declaratory relief

to protect the victim.

Handout D2
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

FEDERAL HATE CRIME

STATISTICS ACT

28 USC Section 534

• Signed into law in April 1990; amended in

1994 and 1996.

• Requires the U.S. Attorney General to collect

data and publish an annual summary on

crimes that manifest prejudice based on race,

religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or

disability.

• Data collection responsibilities were delegated

to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports Section.

• Helps identify the geographical location and

the nature and types of bias crimes occurring

in the U.S.

• Effectiveness of the law depends upon its

implementation by and support from state

and local law enforcement officials.

Transparency D6
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Reconciling Bias Crime

and the First Amendment

Reprinted with permission of Assistant Attorney General Richard W. Cole, Massachusetts Attorney

General’s Office, Civil Rights Division.

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting

the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or

the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for

a redress of grievances.

Note that the Fourteenth Amendment makes the First Amendment applicable to the states

as well.

1. Free speech goals of the First Amendment:

• Citizens may express their political beliefs and opposition to government without

government reprisal.

• Society and government are better off when free exchange of political ideas and

views is encouraged rather than chilled.

• The government may not choose which political beliefs it finds acceptable or

unacceptable.

2. What constitutes speech? It may be written, oral, public, or private. It may be used

for political or commercial purposes.

3. The First Amendment protects speech, not conduct. Forms of speech include:

• Symbolic speech to convey a message, e.g., picketing, boycotts, T-shirts with

political statements, arm bands, and flag burning (all deemed protected speech)

• Anti-government (political) speech; anti-censorship protection for unpopular

political speech

• Freedom not to speak, pray, or salute the flag

• Offensive speech of many types

• Speech that reflects bias or prejudice; racist, anti-religious, or sexist speech is

generally protected, even if it includes use of slurs or epithets (unless incidental

to conduct or used when communicating ideas in a threatening, intimidating, or

coercive manner)

4. Exceptions to First Amendment protections for speech include the following:

• Threats of force, i.e., language placing a person in reasonable fear of injury

• Slander or libel

• Pornography/obscenity

• Fighting words, where speech is directed at a particular person or group of

persons and is said in a manner that causes a hostile, physical reaction that tends

to incite an immediate breach of the peace

Handout D3

(continued)
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Handout D3 (cont’d)

• “Captive audience speech,” i.e., it is constitutional, with appropriate limitations

consistent with court decisions, to limit, by statue or ordinance, the picketing of

private homes (Carey v Brown, 1980)

• Clear and present danger to public safety, e.g., falsely yelling “Fire!” in a theater

or inciting others to immediate violent action

• National security, i.e., speech that can constitute treason

• False and deceptive advertising

• Where speech is incidental to conduct, i.e., it is not the idea being expressed

that is being punished, but the intolerable mode of expressing the idea the

speaker wishes to convey (e.g., during a beating, the perpetrator says, “I hate

blacks.”) (Wisconsin v. Mitchell, 1993)

• Solicitation crime, e.g., asking a person to murder one’s spouse for payment

• Words used that tend to prove discriminatory motive, i.e., words expressing

discriminatory motive are admissible to prove employment, housing, public

accommodation, credit, and other forms of discrimination; words expressing a

discriminatory animus may serve as evidence of the prohibited conduct (for

example, to prove reason for failure to promote) or may constitute the prohibited

conduct itself

• Racial, religious, or sexual harassment in schools and workplace, i.e., discriminatory language used to verbally harass another in a confined environment, such

as a school setting or place of employment, may be admissible to prove unlawful

harassment; for example, a sexual harassment claim may be proven by evidence

of unwelcome, offensive verbal comments of a sexual nature that creates an

intimidating or hostile school or work environment

Note: Speech may fall into more than one category of exception.

On most occasions speech that reflects a person’s prejudice cannot be punished. But at

times, mere words may cause a reasonable person to feel threatened, intimidated, or

coerced (e.g., “I’m going to kill you because I hate Catholics.”). In that case, a person is

not punished for his or her beliefs or offensive thoughts, but for language deemed the

equivalent of conduct.

Application of judgment and experience is needed to determine whether speech or

writings constitute a criminal threat. Fact patterns are not always clear, and reasonable

discretion and reasoned judgment are crucial in determining whether a bias crime, giving

rise to civil or criminal liability, has occurred. Prior to arresting or prosecuting a suspect

for a bias crime for a written or verbal statement, law enforcement officials and prosecutors need to carefully examine the context in which the statement was made.

Reconciling Bias Crime

and the First Amendment (cont’d)
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

CRIMINAL CASE ILLUSTRATIONS

Case 1

• On a Saturday morning, a man stands in a

section of your town or city Common; he uses

anti-Semitic epithets and makes offensive

remarks (e.g., “All Jews should die,” “It’s a

shame Hitler wasn’t successful in

exterminating the Jews”).

• This man also hands out hate literature.

• This man also self-identifies as a member of a

neo-Nazi group.

• Assume that this same man sets up a kiosk on

the side of a Jewish religious parade; hundreds

of Jews walk past the kiosk as the epithets are

made.

Transparency D7
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

CRIMINAL CASE ILLUSTRATIONS (cont’d)

Case 2

• An 11-year-old black girl sees a 6'5",

250-pound white male in full uniform

exercising on the high school football field in

the heart of a black neighborhood in your

town or city. She walks up to him, and,

standing inches away, leans up and says in a

loud voice, “This is a black neighborhood,

white boy. Stay out of my neighborhood.”

Case 3

• A 6'5" white man sees an 11-year-old black

girl walking on the football field at a high

school in the heart of an all-white neighborhood. He walks up to her and, standing inches

away, leans down and says in a powerful

voice, “This is a white neighborhood, blackey.

Get out of my neighborhood.”

Transparency D7 (cont’d)
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

CRIMINAL CASE ILLUSTRATIONS (cont’d)

Case 4

• A white and an Asian American family are

neighbors. Both have lived in their adjoining

houses for three years without any problems.

One Saturday, the father of the Asian

American family cuts down an oak tree

located on the property of the white

neighbor’s house, mistakenly believing it is on

his side of the property line. The father of the

white family observes this, runs out, yells

racial epithets, and punches the Asian

American man in the face.

• Same scenario as above, except that the Asian

American family just moved into the house

the week before and has had no contact with

the neighbors.

Transparency D7 (cont’d)
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

CRIMINAL CASE ILLUSTRATIONS (cont’d)

Case 5

• An interracial couple lives in a deserted area

or on a dead-end street in your town or city.

On two occasions, in the dark of night, three

high school youths throw numerous eggs at

their house. The family is home, but the

youths run away before the family members

are able to go outside to confront the

perpetrators. Also assume that this couple

has spoken out publicly about bias and

prejudice in the town, and, in fact, has

published an article in the local newspaper

about what they believe is rampant racism in

the town.

• Assume that you are able to develop evidence

that the youths engaged in this conduct to

intimidate the couple from speaking out in

the future about racial bias and prejudice in

your area.

Transparency D7 (cont’d)
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

CRIMINAL CASE ILLUSTRATIONS (cont’d)

Case 6

• On Easter Sunday, two youths write antiCatholic graffiti on a church, which includes

threats against the parishioners such as, “You

will all die.”

• Assume that the reporter from the local

newspaper sees you on the scene seconds

after you arrive and asks you whether or not

this constitutes a hate crime. How do you

respond?

Transparency D7 (cont’d)
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

CIVIL INJUNCTION:

CASE ILLUSTRATION

Case 7

• The Torreses, a Hispanic family, move onto a

street in a predominantly white area of your city

or town. Their home is next to a large baseball

field and playground.

• Shortly after they move in, they begin

experiencing harassment. On one occasion, their

car is tipped over; on another, their car is

vandalized.

• This harassment culminated in an incident that

occurred two weeks ago. On that day, the

Torreses drove down their street, followed by a

Hispanic family who lived nearby.

Transparency D8
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Transparency D8 (cont’d)

CIVIL INJUNCTION:

CASE ILLUSTRATION (cont’d)

• As they drove, they were accosted by a group

of 15–20 white males and females. One of the

white males, John C., yelled a racial comment

at the Torreses. John C. then stood in front of

the Torreses’ car, blocking its forward

movement, and began to strike their car with

a tire iron. The Torreses drove past him down

the street and went to a barbecue at their

friends’ home.

• Assume that two days after a court order was

issued for the youths to stay away from that

particular street and the park, one of the

defendants showed up in the park across from

the Torreses’ house, and then began yelling at

the Hispanic family.
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

CHARACTERISTICS OF

GENDER-BASED CRIMES

Similar to other types of bias crime, including:

• Absence of other dominant motive

• Excessive violence/lack of provocation

• Community impact

• Long-term harm

• Intimidation of an entire group

Transparency D9
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

GENDER AS HATE CRIME:

THE LAW

• Gender is a protected category in 20 states’

bias crime statutes

• Proposed Hate Crime Prevention Act would

include gender

• The Violence Against Women Act of 1994

provides a federal civil remedy for some

victims of gender-related bias crime

• Federal Hate Crime Sentencing Enhancement

Act includes gender as a protected category

• Federal Hate Crime Statistics Act currently

excludes gender from reporting requirements

Transparency D10
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

LEGAL CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING

GENDER-BASED HATE CRIMES

• Offender and victim are of different genders

• Offender makes abusive or derogatory

remarks based on gender

• Offender states hatred for the gender as a

group

• Offender has multiple victims, all of the same

gender

• A pattern of verbal, physical, and sexual

abuse, control, or domination of victims of

the same gender can be established

Transparency D11
114

Session D. Bias Crime and the Law

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum
Activity: Discussion of Roles, Responsibilities, and 20 minutes

Unique Challenges in Responding to Bias Crimes

Presentation: Investigative Strategies 25 minutes

Presentation: Advocacy on Behalf of Victims 15 minutes

and Their Families

TOTAL TIME 60 minutes

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Identify the respective roles and responsibilities of law

enforcement and victim assistance professionals when

responding to bias crimes

• Identify strategies that facilitate the investigation of bias crimes:

securing evidence, interviewing victims and witnesses effectively,

and interrogating suspects

• Describe essential steps in advocating for bias crime victims

Time: 60 minutes

Handouts: Important Issues to Address When Assisting Bias

Crime Victims

Transparencies: Special Considerations When Interviewing

Bias Crime Victims; Conducting Effective Victim Interviews;

Enhancing Witness Cooperation; Collecting and Preserving

Evidence in Bias Crime Investigations; Important Issues to

Address When Assisting Bias Crime Victims

Equipment: Flipchart; markers; overhead projector; screen

Session

E Roles of Law Enforcement and

Victim Assistance Professionals

 Overview of the Session: At a Glance

 Objectives

 Materials and Equipment
116

Session E. Roles of Law Enforcement and Victim Assistance Professionals

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

I. Activity: Discussion of the Roles, Responsibilities, and

Unique Challenges in Responding to Bias Crimes

(20 minutes)

First, ask for volunteers to identify the roles and responsibilities of law enforcement

professionals in responding to bias crimes.

Record their answers on a flipchart. Provide and explain other roles and

responsibilities that have not been mentioned by participants. Police officers are

responsible for the following:

• Identifying a crime as potentially motivated by bias

• Providing support and assistance to bias crime victims

• Conducting thorough investigations of all alleged bias incidents

• Documenting bias crime incidents and preparing quarterly

statistical reports for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s

Uniform Crime Reports Section

• Contacting and maintaining involvement with the district

attorneys responsible for prosecuting these cases

• Interviewing victims and witnesses

• Collecting and preserving evidence

• Interrogating suspects

• Maintaining contact with and referring victims to other support

agencies, including victim assistance programs

• Providing bias crime response training to other police officers and

other police departments

• Maintaining good community relations through the use of police

community liaisons, community policing, and general support to

the community

Remove the flipchart page(s) and hang it visibly in the front of the room. Then, ask

for volunteers to identify the responsibilities of victim assistance professionals in

responding to bias crimes. Record their answers on a flipchart. Provide and explain

other responsibilities that have not been mentioned by participants. These should

include the following:

• Providing emergency care to victims

• Providing food to victims, and referring them to shelter when necessary

 Instructor’s Notes

This exercise is designed to

help law enforcement and

victim assistance professionals examine and clarify their

roles and responsibilities in

responding to bias crime.

It is also designed to help

them become more familiar

with one another’s roles. If

time allows, you may wish to

have participants brainstorm

in small groups before

conducting the large-group

exercise.

Note to Instructor
117

Session E. Roles of Law Enforcement and Victim Assistance Professionals

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

• Providing safety services, such as helping victims install new locks or

replace broken windows

• Providing emergency financial assistance, such as money for phone calls,

food, or shelter

• Providing on-the-scene comforting words and gestures, and making home

visits shortly after the incident

• Counseling victims immediately following the incident, and providing

follow-up counseling after the incident

- Advocating for victims to ensure they do not lose pay from employers

for time spent in recovery and court

- Facilitating the expedient return of stolen property retained by police

departments as case evidence

- Assisting victims in preparing their victim impact statements

- Referring victims to other resources, such as legal, psychological, and

social services, civil rights and advocacy organizations, and the local

religious alliance

- Assisting victims in filling out claims for compensation, restitution,

and/or witness fee assistance

- Providing court-related services, such as witness reception, court

orientation, notification, witness alert, transportation, child care, and

escorts to court

- Providing general advocacy services, such as public education,

legislative advocacy, and training of police, prosecutors, and other

human service providers

Ask participants to provide examples of common challenges they face in responding

to bias crime cases. Record their answers on a flipchart, indicating if the example is

a challenge experienced primarily by law enforcement professionals, victim

assistance professionals, or both.
118

Session E. Roles of Law Enforcement and Victim Assistance Professionals

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

II. Presentation: Investigative Strategies (25 minutes)

Interviewing Victims and Witnesses

Use Transparency E1, “Special Considerations When Interviewing Bias Crime

Victims.”

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS WHEN INTERVIEWING BIAS

CRIME VICTIMS

Take the following preliminary steps before interviewing a bias

crime victim:

■ Provide extra security for the victim, if needed, and assure

the victim that he or she is safe.

■ Tell the victim that you are sorry the incident happened, and

ask the victim for permission to speak to him or her. This is

very important, because many victims fear that law

enforcement officials will not believe the incident happened

or understand how traumatic it was. By saying you are

sorry, you validate the victim’s feelings.

■ Allow the victim to ventilate feelings about the crime, and

validate those feelings by expressing your personal concern

for the victim and what he or she has experienced. Share

the victim’s outrage, and let the victim know that the police

department takes these crimes seriously and will conduct a

full investigation of the incident.

■ If the officer cannot communicate in the language of the

victim, arrange for a translator or ask the victim to select a

friend or family member to act as interpreter. (Be mindful of

cultural and privacy considerations that may prohibit a

victim from using a younger member of the family, or a

family member of a different gender, as a translator, even if

that person is the only English-speaking member of the

household.)

■ Be extremely sensitive to and respectful of the victim, who

may be particularly guarded due to cultural perceptions of

law enforcement, or may desire to conceal or deny his or her

affiliation with the group the offender(s) intended to harm.

■ Inform the victim that he or she may experience a range of

emotional responses due to the victimization (e.g., anger,

sadness, emotional numbness, etc.), and that these responses

may manifest themselves immediately following or any time

after the incident.

E1

(continued)

Explain that the group is

now going to draw on

participants’ law enforcement and victim assistance

experience to identify

techniques for enhancing the

interviewing of bias crime

victims and witnesses.

The officers’ actions will

have a direct bearing on the

victim’s willingness to

cooperate with the investigation. The victim

assistance professionals can

both support victims in

recovery and encourage their

cooperation in the

investigation.

Note to Instructor
119

Session E. Roles of Law Enforcement and Victim Assistance Professionals

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

E1

■ Do not attempt to diminish the impact of the crime in

any way.

■ Explain to the victim what is likely to happen during

the course of the investigation, and prepare him or her

for any disappointing or frustrating circumstances (e.g.,

the release of the suspect).

■ Protect the victim’s anonymity whenever possible.

Anonymity is a significant issue for many victims of

bias crime; for example, many gay and lesbian bias

crime victims are not openly gay, due to family and

societal attitudes toward homosexuality.

Use Transparency E2, “Conducting Effective Victim Interviews.”

CONDUCTING EFFECTIVE VICTIM INTERVIEWS

■ Only one officer should conduct the interview. Any

other officers present should remain inconspicuous and

not interfere with the interview.

■ Allow the victim to tell the whole story in his or her

own words. Do not distract the individual or interrupt

the story unnecessarily.

■ Language is often the key evidence in bias crimes.

Have victims recall to the best of their ability the exact

words of the offender(s).

■ Do not ask a victim, “Was this a bias crime?” or in any

way press for an admission that the crime was

motivated by bias. The victim may not want to

acknowledge the bias motivation of the crime. Instead,

ask, “Do you have any idea why this happened to

you?” or say, “People sometimes get attacked because

of their [race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation,

etc.]. Was there anything in the incident that might

point in that direction?”

■ Do not make assumptions about the victim that may be

inappropriate, such as assuming the victim’s sexual

orientation. For example, do not ask, “Are you gay?”

Instead, ask victims what they think motivated the

attack and why they think they were victimized.

Explain that the basic skills

participants have learned

for interviewing victims,

witnesses, and suspects in

other criminal cases apply

to bias crime cases as well.

Explain that there are

additional considerations

when interviewing victims,

witnesses, and suspects in

bias crime cases.

Note to Instructor

E2

(continued)
120

Session E. Roles of Law Enforcement and Victim Assistance Professionals

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

■ If the victim identifies the crime as motivated by bias, acknowledge that

attacks motivated by prejudice can be especially devastating.

■ Do not allow personal value judgments of the victim’s behavior,

lifestyle, or culture to intrude. Do not blame the victim for the incident.

If the victim blames him or herself for the incident, gently respond that

the incident was not the victim’s fault.

■ Do not question the victim’s judgment in terms of his or her own safety.

What you may interpret as victims placing themselves in unsafe

situations, they may interpret as exercising their rights.

■ Use appropriate terminology. Do not use stereotyped or biased terms

that can revictimize the victim, shut down communication, or otherwise

impede the investigation.

■ Ask the victim if he or she has been victimized in prior incidents.

■ Continually update the victim on the status of the case and what is

being done by the police department. Victims of bias crime are often

particularly sensitive to law enforcement’s responsiveness to their

needs. Victims from other cultures may need more direct involvement

from law enforcement to overcome cultural and linguistic barriers.

■ Refer the victim to individuals or organizations that can provide

support and assistance. These may include victim assistance agencies,

social service organizations, and clergy in the victim’s religious

denomination.

Explain that the same strategies for interviewing victims in bias crime cases also

apply to interviewing witnesses. In addition, there are other strategies you can use

to enhance witness cooperation. Use Transparency E3, “Enhancing Witness

Cooperation.”

ENHANCING WITNESS COOPERATION

■ Canvas the entire community, using interpreters as needed. Appeal to

community members’ sense of civic responsibility and the chance for

them to assist in ridding their community of these crimes. Canvassing

the entire community sends a message to the community and potential

offenders that the police department does not tolerate such crimes.

■ Offer rewards for information regarding the case.

■ Remember that bias crimes often involve individuals of races and/or

ethnicities different from the witnesses of the incident. The stereotypes

and biases of witnesses may consciously or subconsciously influence

their perceptions of the incident.

E2

E3

(continued)
121

Session E. Roles of Law Enforcement and Victim Assistance Professionals

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

■ Be aware that witnesses with the same prejudices and stereotypes of the

offender(s) may present a distorted or inaccurate view of what occurred.

Witnesses who want to deny the existence of hatred in their community

may also provide inaccurate versions.

■ Establish memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with local civil rights

groups that spell out referral policies, mutual support of call-in

procedures, etc.

Collecting and Preserving Evidence1

Explain that the group is now going to draw on the combined expertise of law

enforcement and victim assistance professionals to identify techniques for

enhancing the collection and preservation of evidence in potential bias crimes.

The same techniques for collecting and preserving evidence used in other

investigations should be used for the investigation of bias crimes. Use

Transparency E4, “Collecting and Preserving Evidence in Bias Crime

Investigations.”

COLLECTING AND PRESERVING EVIDENCE IN BIAS CRIME

INVESTIGATIONS

■ Language: Law enforcement officers should pay particular attention

to any words or phrases that may be bias-related. Exact words and

expressions should be documented as evidence. Note: Language is

often the most critical evidence in a hate crime prosecution.

■ Graffiti: Photographs of graffiti consisting of racial, ethnic, religious,

gender-related, or sexual orientation-related epithets and/or symbols

should be taken immediately following the incident. This secures

evidence and allows offensive language and symbols to be removed

quickly before other community members are victimized by them.

■ Property damage: As with graffiti, photographs of property damage

should be taken immediately following reporting of the incident. The

extent of property damage may affect whether the crime can be

charged as a felony or misdemeanor.

■ Personal injuries: Arrange to have the victim’s visible physical

injuries photographed. This may serve as important evidence at the

time of trial. Ask the victim what would make her or him the most

comfortable, e.g., having a police officer of the same gender gathering

this type of evidence.

■ Symbols: It is important to become familiar with and recognize

symbols or insignias (such as a swastika or the letters KKK) that

(continued)

E3

E4
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Session E. Roles of Law Enforcement and Victim Assistance Professionals

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

indicate bias. These symbols may be found in graffiti, etched or

painted into property, or contained in threatening letters or phone

calls. Numbers and numerology have also been used as part of hate

messages. You may need to consult an expert to determine if a

number or symbol has significance.

■ Threatening letters: If a threatening letter is received, advise the victim

to preserve potential fingerprint evidence:

• Touch the letter as little as possible

• Avoid faxing or copying the letter

• Place the letter in a paper, not plastic, bag

• Arrange to have an officer pick up the letter to ensure that the

chain of evidence is maintained

■ Coordination: The overall effectiveness of law enforcement agencies’

response to bias crime can be enhanced through policies that promote

interagency training, information exchange, and multiagency law

enforcement cooperation. For example,

• Agencies should develop cooperative relationships with county

prosecutors and other concerned federal, state, and local law

enforcement agencies, as appropriate.

• The investigation should be coordinated with other law enforcement

agencies in the area to analyze bias crime patterns and to determine

whether an organized hate group is involved.

III. Presentation: Advocacy on Behalf of Victims and

Their Families (15 minutes)

Distribute Handout E1, “Important Issues to Address When Assisting Bias Crime

Victims,” and use Transparency E5 to discuss what professionals can do to address

victim impact.

IMPORTANT ISSUES TO ADDRESS WHEN ASSISTING BIAS CRIME

VICTIMS

■ Address the victim’s physical injuries (if applicable).

■ Acknowledge the unique impact of crimes motivated by hatred or

prejudice. In addition to acknowledging the physical, emotional, and

financial impact of hate crime, victims need professionals to address

directly the prejudice motivating the offender. Professionals should

address the victim’s feelings of objectification and degradation and

acknowledge that these issues are particularly difficult for the victims

of bias crime to discuss.

■ Acknowledge that the perpetrator may commit other crimes against the

victim, especially in retaliatory and reactive hate crimes.

E4

E1

(continued)
123

Session E. Roles of Law Enforcement and Victim Assistance Professionals

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

■ Address the victim’s safety. Assist in developing a safety

plan and network of support.

■ Be aware of the possibility of prior victimization. Victims

of hate crime have often been previous victims of hate

crime by the same perpetrator or experienced other

incidents of victimization. Frequently, victims have not

reported these prior incidents to the police.

■ Acknowledge that victims may feel the long-term impact

of prior victimization and discrimination.

■ Address the level of fear the victim may feel. Because

hate crimes are message crimes, they terrorize victims.

Directly address with the victim what steps may be taken

to reduce this fear.

■ Address issues relating to the media. Because hate crimes

often attract media attention, ask the victim if someone

can act as a media liaison for him or her.

■ Tell the victim that this type of crime is treated very

seriously, and explain your department’s or agency’s

response protocol.

■ Acknowledge institutional prejudice and its impact on the

victim. Inquire as to any barriers to accessing services;

for example, the victim may encounter physical, linguistic,

or cultural barriers in pursuing a legal case or obtaining

services.

■ Acknowledge victims’ potential fear in reporting the crime

and pursuing their cases in the court system. Victims of

crime who are immigrants without legal papers may fear

deportation. Victims of homophobic hate crime may fear

disclosure. All groups may fear dealing with legal

authorities.

■ Refer victims to culturally appropriate services.

■ Educate yourself about the medical and legal systems in

your jurisdiction. Learn about reporting procedures from

the police or sheriff. Obtain copies, if possible, of the

crime/hate crime reporting form to determine what kinds

of information law enforcement will need to build a case,

and what types of questions the victim must be prepared

to answer.

■ Understand the laws relating to civil rights violations and

hate crimes and what is required to convict an offender

under those laws. Help the victim develop realistic

(continued)

E1

Bias crimes impact victims

in many ways. The impact

on individual victims, their

families, and their communities is discussed in more

detail in Session B, Victim

Impact. The following

section is designed primarily

for victim assistance professionals but is also essential

training for law enforcement

officials.

Guidelines for addressing

cultural concerns related to

victim advocacy and counseling are presented in

Session F, Cultural Issues

and Community Strategies

for Dealing with Bias

Crime.

Note to Instructor
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Transparency B1

expectations about his or her role, time frames, and potential outcomes

relative to the criminal justice system.

■ As hate crimes affect entire communities, consider your role in

organizing community members to respond to the crime and work on

prevention initiatives. Options include the following:

• Organize a community response, public awareness effort, or victim

vigil to show support of both the victim and the entire community

affected by the crime.

• Develop coalitions and/or networks to support hate crime victims.

• Coordinate with human relations commissions and specialized

advocacy groups to address victimization:

Advocate for victims within systems

Train citizens to provide peer support

Develop self-help groups for victims

Refer victims for support and counseling services

Provide translation services

Provide court monitoring and advocacy

Develop multilingual representation and education

Provide media advocacy

■ Educate health care providers, including pre-hospital care providers,

emergency department personnel, and primary care providers, about

the unique impact of bias crime and the special needs of victims. The

Annals of Emergency Medicine has published guidelines for health care

professionals on treating bias crime victims.2

E1

References

1 Portions of this section were adapted from: U.S. Department of Justice (1998). National hate

crimes training curriculum: Multilevel state and local law enforcement professionals.

Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice.

2 Hutson, H. R., Anglin, D., Stratton, G., and Moore, J. (June 1997). Hate crime violence and its

emergency department management. Ann Emerg Med 29, 786–791.
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

WHEN INTERVIEWING

BIAS CRIME VICTIMS

• Provide extra security for the victim.

• Tell the victim you are sorry the incident happened.

• Allow the victim to ventilate feelings, and explain

that the police department takes these crimes

seriously.

• Use an interpreter, if necessary.

• Be extremely sensitive to and respectful of the

victim, especially regarding cultural differences.

• Inform the victim about the usual range of

emotional responses to victimization.

• Do not attempt to diminish the impact of the crime.

• Explain what is likely to happen during the

investigation.

• Protect the victim’s anonymity whenever possible.

Transparency E1
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

CONDUCTING EFFECTIVE

VICTIM INTERVIEWS

• Only one officer should conduct the interview.

• Allow victims to tell the whole story in their

own words.

• Language is often the key evidence. Have victims

recall the exact words of the offender(s), if possible.

• Ask if he or she has been victimized previously.

• Do not ask “Was this a bias crime?”

• Do not make assumptions about the victim.

• Do not blame the victim or allow personal value

judgments to intrude.

• Do not question victims’ judgment of their own

safety.

• Use appropriate terminology; do not use biased

terms.

• Regularly update victim on case status.

• Refer victim for support and assistance.

Transparency E2
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

ENHANCING

WITNESS COOPERATION

• Canvas the entire community, using

interpreters as needed.

• Offer rewards for information.

• Remember that biases of witnesses may

influence their perceptions.

• Be aware that witnesses may provide

inaccurate accounts, for various reasons.

• Establish memoranda of understanding

with local civil rights groups.

Transparency E3
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

COLLECTING AND PRESERVING

EVIDENCE IN BIAS CRIME

INVESTIGATIONS

• LANGUAGE: Pay particular attention to any words

or phrases that may be bias-related. Document

exact words and expressions as evidence.

• PHOTOGRAPHS: Take photographs immediately of:

– graffiti

– property damage

– victim’s visible personal injuries

• SYMBOLS: Recognize symbols indicating bias

(e.g., swastika, KKK, significant numbers).

Call in expert if necessary.

• THREATENING LETTERS: Advise victim to:

– touch letter as little as possible

– avoid faxing or copying letter

– place letter in paper (not plastic) bag

– have officer pick up letter

• COORDINATION: Work with other law enforcement

agencies to analyze bias crime patterns.

Transparency E4
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Handout E1

Important Issues To Address

When Assisting Bias Crime Victims

❏ Address the victim’s physical injuries (if applicable).

❏ Acknowledge the unique impact of crimes motivated by hatred or prejudice. In

addition to acknowledging the physical, emotional, and financial impact of hate

crime, victims need professionals to address directly the prejudice motivating the

offender. Professionals should address the victim’s feelings of objectification and

degradation and acknowledge that these issues are particularly difficult for the

victims of bias crime to discuss.

❏ Acknowledge that the perpetrator may commit other crimes against the victim,

especially in retaliatory and reactive hate crimes.

❏ Address the victim’s safety. Assist in developing a safety plan and network of

support.

❏ Be aware of the possibility of prior victimization. Victims of hate crime have often

been previous victims of hate crime by the same perpetrator or experienced other

incidents of victimization. Frequently, victims have not reported these prior

incidents to the police.

❏ Acknowledge that victims may feel the long-term impact of prior victimization and

discrimination.

❏ Address the level of fear the victim may feel. Because hate crimes are message

crimes, they terrorize victims. Directly address with the victim what steps may be

taken to reduce this fear.

❏ Address issues relating to the media. Because hate crimes often attract media

attention, ask the victim if someone can act as a media liaison for him or her.

❏ Tell the victim that this type of crime is treated very seriously, and explain your

department’s or agency’s response protocol.

❏ Acknowledge institutional prejudice and its impact on the victim. Inquire as to any

barriers to accessing services; for example, the victim may encounter physical,

linguistic, or cultural barriers in pursuing a legal case or obtaining services.

❏ Acknowledge victims’ potential fear in reporting the crime and pursuing their cases

in the court system. Victims of crime who are immigrants without legal papers may

fear deportation. Victims of homophobic hate crime may fear disclosure. All

groups may fear dealing with legal authorities.

❏ Refer victims to culturally appropriate services.

(continued)

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Handout E1 (cont’d)

❏ Educate yourself about the medical and legal systems in your jurisdiction. Learn

about reporting procedures from the police or sheriff. Obtain copies, if possible, of

the crime/hate crime reporting form to determine what kinds of information law

enforcement will need to build a case, and what types of questions the victim must

be prepared to answer.

❏ Understand the laws relating to civil rights violations and hate crimes and what is

required to convict an offender under those laws. Help the victim develop realistic

expectations about his or her role, time frames, and potential outcomes relative to

the criminal justice system.

❏ As hate crimes affect entire communities, consider your role in organizing

community members to respond to the crime and work on prevention initiatives.

Options include the following:

• Organize a community response, public awareness effort, or victim vigil to show

support of both the victim and the entire community affected by the crime.

• Develop coalitions and/or networks to support hate crime victims.

• Coordinate with human relations commissions and specialized advocacy groups

to address victimization:

Advocate for victims within systems

Train citizens to provide peer support

Develop self-help groups for victims

Refer victims for support and counseling services

Provide translation services

Provide court monitoring and advocacy

Develop multilingual representation and education

Provide media advocacy

❏ Educate health care providers, including pre-hospital care providers, emergency

department personnel, and primary care providers, about the unique impact of bias

crime and the special needs of victims. The Annals of Emergency Medicine has

published guidelines for health care professionals on treating hate crime victims.

Important Issues To Address

When Assisting Bias Crime Victims (cont’d)

✓

✓

✓

✓
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Transparency E5

IMPORTANT ISSUES TO ADDRESS

WHEN ASSISTING

BIAS CRIME VICTIMS

❏ Address the victim’s physical injuries (if applicable).

❏ Acknowledge the unique impact of attacks

motivated by hatred or prejudice.

❏ Acknowledge that the perpetrator may commit

other crimes against the victim, especially in

retaliatory and reactive hate crimes.

❏ Address the victim’s safety.

❏ Be aware of possible prior victimization.

❏ Acknowledge that victims may feel the long-term

impact of prior victimization and discrimination.

❏ Address the level of fear the victim may feel.

❏ Address issues relating to the media.

(continued)

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

IMPORTANT ISSUES TO ADDRESS

WHEN ASSISTING

BIAS CRIME VICTIMS (cont’d)

❏ Tell the victim that this type of crime is treated very

seriously, and explain your department’s or agency’s

response protocol.

❏ Acknowledge institutional prejudice and its impact

on the victim, and inquire as to any barriers to

accessing services.

❏ Acknowledge victims’ potential fear in reporting the

crime and pursuing their cases in the court system.

❏ Refer victims to culturally appropriate services.

❏ Educate yourself about the medical and legal

systems in your jurisdiction.

❏ Understand the laws relating to civil rights

violations and help victim develop realistic

expectations.

❏ Organize the community to work on prevention

initiatives.

❏ Educate health care providers on the special needs

of bias crime victims.

Transparency E5 (cont’d)

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓

✓
Presentation: Defining Culture and Why It Matters in 15 minutes

Dealing with Bias Crime

Activity: Culture and Heritage 15 minutes

Presentation: Implications of Culture and Diversity for 20 minutes

Bias Crime

Presentation: Community Impact and Outreach 10 minutes

TOTAL TIME 60 minutes

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Understand the influences of culture on their own lives

• Better understand the impact of culture on bias crime

• Understand strategies for addressing cross-cultural issues when

working with bias crime victims

• Describe effective community involvement in dealing with bias crime

• Understand strategies for addressing the community impact of bias

crime

• Understand the importance of building successful networks and

coalitions

Time: 60 minutes

Handouts: Culture and Heritage; Guidelines for Providing Culturally

Appropriate Counseling; Possible Network or Coalition Members;

Community Change to Improve the Identification of and Response to

Bias Crimes

Transparencies: Continuum of Prejudicial Behavior; The Dimensions

of Prejudice; Emotional Reactions in Dealing with Cross-Cultural

Communication; Cultural Considerations; Culturally Appropriate

Counseling: An Overview; Community Impact

Equipment: Overhead projector; screen; flipchart

F

Cultural Issues and

Community Strategies for

Session

Dealing with Bias Crime

 Objectives

 Materials and Equipment

 Overview of the Session: At a Glance
134

Session F. Cultural Issues and Community Strategies for Dealing with Bias Crime

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

I. Presentation: Defining Culture and Why It Matters in

Dealing with Bias Crime (15 minutes)

Explain that this session will provide an understanding of culture, diversity,

prejudice, and bigotry, and their relationship to bias crime. The session will not

comprehensively deal with specific cultural groups and their history, customs, or

beliefs, but rather provide an overview.

Explain that all professionals who deal with bias crimes need to understand cultural

issues in order to better understand the following:

• The dynamics of bias crimes, which, in most circumstances, are

committed by offenders from a different cultural background than their

victims

• The dynamics of cross-cultural communication, in order to more

effectively serve the victim—especially if the victim is from a culture

different from that of the law enforcement or victim service professional

Without this knowledge, cultural misunderstandings and miscommunication can

occur for law enforcement professionals, which can threaten the law enforcement

professional’s safety, impede investigations, lead to the escalation of events, which

may heighten community tension, and/or increase the agency’s vulnerability to

liability.

For victim assistance professionals, cultural misunderstandings and

miscommunication can undermine the effectiveness of victim counseling and

advocacy, limit outreach to underserved populations of bias crime victims, and limit

the development of culturally appropriate services to reduce harm to victims.

Positive outcomes may result from increased cultural understanding:

• Improvement in police community relations

• Improvement in reporting and a better record of solving bias crimes

• Enhancement of victim services to individuals and to the community

• Enhancement of prevention in the community

Explain that culture is a concept that helps us understand similarities and

differences across groups. Definitions of culture vary, though most include the

following characteristics:

• The artifacts created by a group of human beings, including architecture,

art, tools, dress, and religion

• A set of traditions

• A common language

 Instructor’s Notes
135

 Session F. Cultural Issues and Community Strategies for Dealing with Bias Crime

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Ask participants to volunteer their own ideas about what contributes to cultural

identity, and record their suggestions on a flipchart. Possible responses may include

the following:

Nationality Rural or urban location

Race Education

Religion Income

Ethnicity Profession

Gender Mental and physical abilities

Age Sexual orientation

Geographic region Beliefs and attitudes

Worldview

Include examples from this list, if not mentioned by the group.

II. Activity: Culture and Heritage (15 minutes)

Distribute Handout F1, “Culture and Heritage,” and ask participants to spend five

minutes jotting down answers to the questions.

Ask for four to six volunteers to share their notes. After hearing the examples, ask

for volunteers to specify what differences they notice among these examples.

Possible responses:

• Last names

• Where they were born

• Where their grandparents’ parents came from

• Individual customs

Ask for volunteers to specify what similarities they notice among their examples.

Possible responses:

• Where they were born

• Individual customs

Sum up the activity by reminding participants of the following points:

• In their own experience, they have often been able to find a commonality

between themselves and victims, victims’ family members, and members

of the victims’ communities, even though they may appear to be

“culturally different” from one another.

• A respect for all cultures and all groups will enable victim assistance and

law enforcement professionals to deal more effectively with bias crime

victims.

• Understanding and managing differences—and perception of differences—

is nevertheless a major challenge, and a responsibility, for professionals

who deal with bias crime.
136

Session F. Cultural Issues and Community Strategies for Dealing with Bias Crime

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

III. Presentation: Implications of Culture and Diversity for

Bias Crime (20 minutes)

Explain that culture is learned and that a culture’s beliefs and attitudes are transmitted from generation to generation. The process by which we experience the

world and transmit our assumptions about different groups and cultures influences

our communication patterns, which can then influence our thoughts, beliefs, and

actions. Below are some examples of the inherent problems with cultural

assumptions:

Labeling

• The inherent danger in making assumptions is that we assume there are

absolute facts rather than working hypotheses. This may lead to the

labeling of others.

• Labeling limits our ability to perceive others accurately, which may lead

to stereotyping.

Stereotyping

• “Stereotyping” is attributing characteristics to a group simplistically and

uncritically, and/or assuming that those characteristics are rooted in

significant biological differences.

• Stereotyping is:

- a dangerous form of labeling

- frequently inaccurate and overgeneralized

- the judging of a person as a category, not an individual

• Stereotyping may lead to prejudicial beliefs.

Prejudice

• “Prejudice” is an unreasonable and unjustifiable negative attitude toward

a group and its individual members.

• Prejudice based on cultural assumptions plays a significant role in the

motivation of bias crime offenders.

Implications

• Although bias crimes may be targeted against members of any culture,

including the dominant culture, a significant percentage of bias crimes are

committed against individuals from cultures different from the culture of

the perpetrator.

• No one member of a cultural group exemplifies all the characteristics of

that group in typical fashion.

• Within any given culture, there can be as much variation as there is

between cultures.

• In any cross-cultural communication, we must work at understanding the

uniqueness of each individual in the context of that individual’s particular

life experiences and her or his personal integration of cultural influences.
137

 Session F. Cultural Issues and Community Strategies for Dealing with Bias Crime

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

The Complex Nature of Prejudice

Use Transparency F1, “Continuum of Prejudicial Behavior.”1

CONTINUUM OF PREJUDICIAL BEHAVIOR

Least Severe Most Severe

• Avoidance

• Negative speech

• Discrimination

• Physical attack

• Extermination

Explain that prejudice is comprised of various social, emotional, and cognitive

aspects. Use Transparency F2, “The Dimensions of Prejudice.”2

THE DIMENSIONS OF PREJUDICE

Social Aspects of Prejudice

■ Unequal group status in society results in unequal treatment of

individuals.

■ Social definition, or being placed by society within a particular social

group, may promote “ingroup bias.”

• “Ingroup” can be defined as a group of people who share a sense

of belonging within a particular group and a feeling of common

identity with the group.

• “Outgroup” can be defined as a group that is perceived as

distinctively different or apart from one’s ingroup.

■ People tend to see greater similarity among individuals in the outgroup

than individuals within their ingroup. For example, when students are

shown faces of white and black individuals and then asked to select

those individuals from a photographic lineup, they tend to recognize

the faces of their own racial group more accurately. People outside

their group appear more similar to one another than do individuals

within their group.

F1

(continued)

F2
138

Session F. Cultural Issues and Community Strategies for Dealing with Bias Crime

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Emotional Aspects of Prejudice

• The “scapegoat theory”: When the cause of one’s frustration is too

difficult to handle, either emotionally or intellectually, one often

redirects the hostility outward. Whole societies can displace such

aggression, as witnessed in Nazi Germany or during the slavery period

of U.S. history.

Cognitive Aspects of Prejudice

• Stereotyping: Stereotypes are not always the result of consciously evil

intentions. Sometimes they result from an attempt to simplify the

complex information one receives from the external world. One way

to simplify complex issues is to develop categories to organize the

information by clustering objects into various groups. Unfortunately,

this simplification often results in negative labeling and

overgeneralization.

• Consequences of stereotyping: Stereotypes affect the way one

interprets the world or one’s own behavior, and the way one recalls

events. Having stereotyped a group of people, one tends to perceive

information about an individual of that group in a way that is

consistent with the stereotype, despite any conflicting evidence.

• Remedy for stereotyping: If one allows oneself to get to know an

individual distinct from his or her group, the influence of the

stereotype diminishes. A particularly effective means of breaking

down stereotypes and biases, then, is to interact with individuals of

various other groups.

Although prejudice does exist and to some degree will always exist, victim

assistance and law enforcement professionals can minimize the negative effects

of prejudice and bias.

Ask the group to describe the most severe and the least severe forms of prejudice

they have witnessed in the communities where they work. Explain to them that

this is a good way to gauge the level of prejudice and hate in the community.

Intercultural Communication

People in all professions and circumstances have difficulty interacting with

others from different backgrounds. Behaviors and attitudes in their own

cultures are no longer relevant when dealing with someone from a different

culture. In addition, behaviors that represent a well-adjusted person in their

own culture may be perceived as indicative of an ill-mannered person in another

culture.

Describe the types of emotional reactions that individuals from different cultural

backgrounds are likely to experience when interacting with one another. Use

Transparency F3, “Emotional Reactions in Dealing with Cross-Cultural

Communication.”3

F2
139

 Session F. Cultural Issues and Community Strategies for Dealing with Bias Crime

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

EMOTIONAL REACTIONS IN DEALING WITH CROSS-CULTURAL

COMMUNICATION

■ Anxiety: Individuals are often anxious about whether their behavior

or speech is appropriate, proper, and/or offensive.

■ Disconfirmed expectations: Behaviors and speech of people from

different cultures may differ significantly from one another’s

expectations.

■ Desire for feeling of belonging: In most interactions, people want to

feel accepted and understood by others. However, people of minority

cultures are often denied this feeling, since they are labeled “outsiders”

in many of their interactions.

■ Confrontation with one’s own prejudices: Part of most people’s

socialization involves treating others who are noticeably different with

reserve. In some cases, people learn that rejection of those different

from themselves is a socially sanctioned policy. However, such

prejudices are a hindrance when interacting with people of different

cultures.

Cultural Considerations for Working with Bias Crime Victims

Use Transparency F4, “Cultural Considerations,” to discuss the effects of culture

on hate crime victims, their families, and the professionals who serve them.4

CULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS

■ Different cultures have different beliefs about justice, equity, and

victimization.

■ Culture is central to how clients do the following:

• Seek assistance

• Understand the crime as the cause of psychological difficulties

• View their symptoms

• Bring a view of hopefulness or pessimism to recovery

• Shape their attitude toward their pain

• View and respond to treatment

■ Some cultural groups often maintain a belief in individual control over

life and individual responsibility for one’s actions. One commonly

articulated goal of crisis intervention—to help individuals regain

control over their lives after victimization has occurred—works well

with them.

■ Many other groups, however, perceive life events as predetermined,

unchangeable, and not under individual control. If belief in control of

one’s life is not part of one’s conceptual framework, this type of

intervention may be meaningless.

F3

F4
140

Session F. Cultural Issues and Community Strategies for Dealing with Bias Crime

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Acknowledge that uncertainty about cultural considerations is widespread among

professionals. This is often compounded by a lack of agency support for

working in the community.

Explain that victims are influenced by a combination of factors:

• Those general to all people

• Those unique to different cultural groups

• Those specific to each individual

All three of these influences must be understood and respected in order to

provide effective crisis counseling and support services. It is important to

remember that each person is unique; the challenge for victim assistance

professionals is to learn how to best support the individual victim.

Explain that this curriculum cannot provide participants with an opportunity to

examine the different worldviews of different cultures in-depth. However, it is

nonetheless important for professionals to be aware of their own biases and

assumptions in terms of what the most appropriate or helpful response might be,

and to take their cues from bias crime victims to determine specific needs for

intervention.

Distribute Handout F2, “Guidelines for Providing Culturally Appropriate

Counseling,” and explain that it is provided as a resource for their work with

victims, their families, and the larger community. Review the major strategies

discussed in the handout, using Transparency F5, “Culturally Appropriate

Counseling: An Overview.”

CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE COUNSELING: AN OVERVIEW

■ Provide appropriate emotional support services to victims

■ Identify potential issues in interviewing victims

■ Use interpreters and translators

■ Understand the victim’s cultural history of oppression

■ Observe differences in cultural considerations of time and space

■ Recognize the importance of spiritual values

■ Work effectively with family and friends of the victim

■ Understand the role of the victim assistance professional

■ Understand the role of the institution or agency

F5
141

 Session F. Cultural Issues and Community Strategies for Dealing with Bias Crime

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

IV. Presentation: Community Impact and Outreach

(10 minutes)

Explain that bias crime affects whole communities. Bias crime victimizes not

only the targeted individuals but all members of the targeted group, as well as

members of other commonly targeted groups. Use Transparency F6, “Community

Impact.”

COMMUNITY IMPACT

Working with the community is essential to:

■ Reduce fears

■ Stem possible retaliation

■ Prevent additional bias incidents

■ Encourage other victimized individuals to come forward and report

crimes

■ Condemn the bigotry that leads to violence

■ Provide an outlet for collective outrage

■ Create public awareness of the scope of bias crime and prevention

strategies

■ Control rumors

Describe effective types of police and victim in-service involvement with the

community in regard to bias crime:

• The police department and victim service agency should keep

community members, as well as victims, abreast of developments in

the case, taking care not to disclose any information that could

jeopardize the investigation. Keeping the community informed quells

rumors and indicates that law enforcement and victim assistance

professionals are doing their jobs.

• Law enforcement and victim advocates’ presence at ceremonies,

commemorations, memorial services, dedications, or other community

activities sends a message that the professionals care about the

community and take bias crime seriously.

• Meetings with neighborhood groups, community leaders, and members

of the targeted group build community trust in the police department

and victim service agency, and may assist in gathering needed

information, quelling rumors, stopping vigilantism, and reducing the

potential for tension in the community to escalate. Members of the

community will often act as the “eyes and ears” of the police

F6
142

Session F. Cultural Issues and Community Strategies for Dealing with Bias Crime

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

department if they believe that law enforcement and victim service

professionals respond to bias crimes and incidents quickly and effectively.

• Many police departments and some victim assistance programs appoint a

special community liaison. This professional, who often speaks the

predominant language of the community, is in constant contact with the

community members and quickly receives information regarding biasrelated incidents or the presence of hate groups within the community.

• Proactive police and victim service professionals conduct prevention

programs in schools and community organizations on bias crime, racism,

and other forms of bigotry, which can be very effective in preventing

these crimes.

Community Outreach5

The National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA) offers the following

recommendations to service providers for more effective outreach for bias crime

victims:

• Victim service providers should seek to let vulnerable communities know

that their assistance program is willing and able to serve victims of bias

crime (e.g., by putting a notice of services available in newspapers and

other media directed at audiences facing bias). Announce service

availability in a broad, comprehensive statement.

• Outreach should be made, if requested, to the social or political leaders of

the victim’s group. There is often a healing strength within the formal

and informal institutions of a group under attack.

• Learn what the culturally specific offerings of your own community.

Involve yourself in cultural activities to build awareness and appreciation

of different cultures. Read material relating to culture. Remember that

information about culture serves as a guideline; members of any given

culture are individuals and may not adhere to the generally accepted

norms of their culture.

• Develop a network of service providers, with an emphasis on those of

different cultures than you. Don’t be afraid or embarrassed to ask for

help when working with a victim of a culture different from yours.

• Take advantage of as many cross-cultural educational opportunities as

possible.

• If you are a member of the white American dominant cultural group, then

be aware that you know less about minority ethnic cultures than most

minority members know about your culture. While minorities need to

learn about the dominant culture’s values in order to survive, most

members of the dominant group have not been required to have this

knowledge about other cultures.

• Be aware of institutional and latent cultural bigotry, which includes

racism, sexism, ageism, and homophobia. While it is easy to identify

obvious indicators of bigotry, subtle signs of discrimination, ignorance,

and prejudice may be more difficult to observe.
143

 Session F. Cultural Issues and Community Strategies for Dealing with Bias Crime

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Networking and Coalition Building

• While individuals and single organizations can have a tremendous

impact, broad-based networks and coalitions can exert even wider

influence on bias crime prevention policy and practice. Ultimately, the

goal of bias crime intervention is to change not only the behavior of

potential offenders but the community norms that support attitudes that

lead to bias crime and enable it to occur.

• Victim assistance and law enforcement professionals can mobilize

themselves and coordinate networks of existing organizations, or save

time and effort by having such organizations and coalitions serve as

intermediaries to deliver messages to their constituents.

Distribute Handouts F3, “Possible Network or Coalition Members,” and F4,

“Community Change to Improve the Identification of and Response to Bias Crimes.”

References

1

Allport, G. W. (1979). The nature of Prejudice, 25th anniversary edition. Reading, MA:

Addison-Wesley. 2

U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (1992). Training guide for hate

crime data collection. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 3

Adapted from Brislin, R., Cushner, K., Craig, C., and Yong, M. (1986). Intercultural

interactions: A practical guide. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. 4

Adapted from Parsons, E. (1985). Ethnicity and traumatic stress: The intersecting point in

psychotherapy. In Charles R. Figley (Ed.), Trauma and Its Wake. New York: Brunner/Mazel. 5

Young, M. A., NOVA (1993). Victim assistance: Frontiers and fundamentals. Dubuque, IA:

Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. 6

Adapted from the Ohio Coalition on Sexual Assault, Guidelines 1991.
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Culture and Heritage

Choose one set of grandparents. For both your grandmother and grandfather

in that pair, answer these questions:

Where grandmother was born:

Where grandfather was born:

Language they spoke at home:

The translation/meaning of their last name (if you know or if there is one):

Where their parents came from (if you know):

Something you remember about their special customs or beliefs (e.g., about

holidays, spirituality/religion, the family, dinner time):

Handout F1
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

CONTINUUM OF

PREJUDICIAL BEHAVIOR

Least Severe Most Severe

• Avoidance

• Negative speech

• Discrimination

• Physical attack

• Extermination

Transparency F1
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

THE DIMENSIONS OF PREJUDICE

Social Aspects

• Unequal group status in society results in unequal

treatment of individuals

• Ingroup bias: People tend to see, or assume,

greater similarity among individuals in the

outgroup than among individuals within their

ingroup

Emotional Aspects

• “Scapegoat theory”: Redirecting frustation and

hostility outward

Cognitive Aspects

• Stereotyping: Attempt to simplify complex

information that frequently results in negative

labeling and overgeneralizing

• Consequences of stereotyping: One tends to

perceive individuals in a way that is consistent

with the stereotype, despite any conflicting

evidence

• Remedy for stereotyping: Interaction with

individuals of various other groups

Transparency F2
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

EMOTIONAL REACTIONS IN

DEALING WITH CROSS-CULTURAL

COMMUNICATION

• Anxiety about appropriateness of one’s

behavior or speech

• Disconfirmed expectations about the

behaviors and speech of people from

other cultures

• Desire for feeling of belonging, which can

be impeded when people are viewed as

“outsiders”

• Confrontation with one’s own prejudices

Transparency F3
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

CULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS

• Different cultures have different beliefs about

justice, equity, and victimization.

• Culture is central to how clients:

- seek assistance

- understand the crime as the cause of

psychological difficulties

- view their symptoms

- bring a view of hopefulness or pessimism

toward recovery

- share their attitude toward their pain

- view and respond to treatment

• Some cultural groups believe in individual control

over life and respond well to one goal of crisis

intervention: to help individuals gain control over

their lives.

• Other groups perceive life events as predetermined,

unchangeable, and not under individual control—

therefore, some kinds of crisis intervention may be

meaningless to them.

Transparency F4
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE

COUNSELING: AN OVERVIEW

• Provide appropriate emotional support services to

victims

• Identify potential issues in interviewing victims

• Use interpreters and translators

• Understand the victim’s cultural history of

oppression

• Observe differences in cultural considerations of

time and space

• Recognize the importance of spiritual values

• Work effectively with family and friends of the

victim

• Understand the role of the victim assistance

professional

• Understand the role of the institution or agency

Transparency F5
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Guidelines for Providing

Culturally Appropriate Counseling

1. Provide Appropriate Emotional Support Services to Bias Crime Victims

• Keep in mind that healing occurs in different stages that vary in length.

• Assure the victim that you will not disclose information—confidentiality and

anonymity are important to bias crime victims, especially those who do not

want to disclose their sexual orientation or residency status, or feel culturally

inhibited about disclosing their victimization.

• Give the victim time to express his or her feelings and allow for cultural

variance in expressing those feelings.

• Listen for the victim’s immediate concerns, and help the victim identify options

for addressing those concerns.

• Allow victims to make their own choices, within their cultural context. Try to

support their decisions, even if the decisions aren’t ones you would make within

your cultural framework.

• Search for the meaning of suffering and pain in the specific culture involved.

• Listen to how the victim uses language. Use the words that she or he uses.

• Seek options that are within the context of the victim’s culture, particularly if

the victim’s own beliefs or values are impeding the recovery process.

• Aid victims in identifying a support system. In cultures where privacy about

personal matters is a major issue, help victims decide who among their friends,

families, or co-workers could provide essential emotional support.

• Be aware of cultural and social expectations. Educate yourself about cultural

norms, beliefs, practices, and traditions that may be unfamiliar to you.

2. Identify Potential Issues in Interviewing Victims

• Examine your attitudes towards others’ language skills, use of specific words,

speech patterns, and timing.

• Remember that language is based on a variety of cultural factors; response to a

crisis can alter a victim’s usual communication patterns.

• Different languages may not have words that are analogous to English terms.

Share your definitions.

• Keep in mind that cultural restraints may prevent the victim from showing his

or her feelings.

(continued)

Handout F2

6

 Adapted from the Ohio Coalition on Sexual Assault, Guidelines 1991.

6
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

3. Use Interpreters and Translators

• Screen interpreters for appropriateness in working with crime victims. Make

sure they are bicultural as well as bilingual.

• Ensure that translators for deaf or hearing-impaired individuals are certified in

American Sign Language.

• Assure victims of the confidentiality of the process.

• Speak slower rather than louder.

• Remember that there are three people involved: you, the interpreter, and the

client. Don’t forget the client in your body language.

• The client may understand more English than she or he is able to express. Do

not reduce the client to a nonentity or infantilize him or her—talk with the

client, rather than about the client.

• Have patience. Don’t expect a word-by-word translation. Sometimes long

conversations may be needed in the other language in order to communicate a

seemingly simple point in English.

• Encourage the interpreter to ask questions.

• Respect the interpreter’s statement that a question is inappropriate and do not

push the point; if possible, wait until after the session and discuss it.

• Use clear and simple English until you are able to establish the vocabulary level

of the interpreter and adapt appropriately.

• Face the fact that you may not be totally in control, and be flexible.

• Just as you are the professional, the interpreter is the cultural professional—

respect each other’s roles.

• Whenever possible, try to meet with the interpreter before the session and

receive feedback after.

• If you feel uncomfortable, always remember how much more uncomfortable the

client must feel.

Handout F2 (cont’d)

Guidelines for Providing

Culturally Appropriate Counseling (cont’d)

(continued)
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Handout F2 (cont’d)

4. Understand the Victim’s Cultural History of Oppression

• While there are similarities among different groups in their experience of

prejudice, discrimination, and oppression, there are also differences that are

important to understand. Learn the history of different cultural groups.

• Keep in mind that the hate speech and symbols used in an attack serve as a

reminder of the violent history of such attacks against the victim’s group.

5. Observe Differences in Cultural Considerations of Time and Space

• Cultures and individuals vary in what is a comfortable distance between people

and what is a violation of personal space—use education, observation of body

language, and good communication to determine what will make the victim

comfortable.

• Remember that cultures and individuals vary in comfort levels with various

degrees of touching.

• Remember that, in some cultures, looking someone directly in the eyes is a sign

of disrespect.

• Keep in mind that cultural and individual concepts of time vary.

6. Recognize the Importance of Religious and Spiritual Values

• Know that religious and spiritual values and beliefs play a role in all cultures.

• Meet with religious and spiritual leaders to learn from and work with them.

• Remember that even if a victim is not a member of a religious institution, the

community norms affecting him or her may be determined by religion.

• Service providers should include religious activities as options for service in

their victim assistance programs.

(continued)

Guidelines for Providing

Culturally Appropriate Counseling (cont’d)
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

7. Work Effectively with the Family and Friends of the Victim

• Sometimes friends or family members will seek your assistance. Encourage

them to have the victim contact you directly.

• Allow family and friends to express their own reactions and concerns about the

attack.

• Family and friends will often experience reactions similar to those of the

victim. Assist them in finding supportive people to respond to their needs so

that the needs of the victim can remain your primary concern.

8. Understand the Role of the Victim Assistance Professional

• Your ability to show sensitivity to the victim’s situation will be greatly

improved by recognizing and acknowledging your own beliefs and biases and

by gaining awareness of and respect for the ways that other cultures’ values

and beliefs differ from your own.

9. Understand the Role of the Institution or Agency

• Be sensitive to the ways that the support you typically offer may not be

accessible to the victim:

- Does the victim have financial limitations to obtaining services (child

care, transportation, access to a telephone)?

- Does the victim feel safe and/or accepted in your office?

- Is the victim physically challenged or recovering from injuries, and are

there possible physical barriers to accessibility?

- Do you speak or understand the language of the victim? Are there

brochures and other materials available in the language of the victim?

Handout F2 (cont’d)

Guidelines for Providing

Culturally Appropriate Counseling (cont’d)
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

COMMUNITY IMPACT

Working with the community is essential to:

• Reduce fears

• Stem possible retaliation

• Prevent additional bias incidents

• Encourage other victimized individuals to come

forward and report crimes

• Condemn the bigotry that leads to violence

• Provide an outlet for collective outrage

• Create public awareness of the scope of bias crimes

and prevention strategies

• Control rumors

Transparency F6
© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Possible Network or Coalition Members

Depending on the focus of the participant’s department or organization, members

may include the following:

• Legislatures/government agencies: Governmental bodies at the national, state,

and local levels may enact legislative initiatives and appropriate funds for the

prevention and research of bias crime.

• Educational institutions: Public and private schools, vocational-technical

schools, community colleges, state and private colleges, and universities may

offer assistance in conveying bias crime identification and prevention

messages.

• Civic organizations: Civic planners, community groups, and religious

institutions can provide insider access to particular populations.

• Mass media: Newspapers, radio, television, and cable television can be asked

to publicize specific interventions and strategies or particular resources

developed in a community to support bias crime victims and their families.

Media targeted to minority communities can be an invaluable tool in

coalition building.

• Health professions: Medical, nursing, and public health professionals in

academic, institutional, state, and local settings can help increase awareness.

• Public safety: Criminal justice professionals can be involved in enforcing

laws and regulations.

• Advocacy groups: Regional and state chapters of the Anti-Defamation

League, National Urban League, Gay and Lesbian Task Force, American-Arab

Anti-Discrimination Committee, Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence,

Asian Law Caucus, Japanese American Citizens League, and other such

organizations can advocate for victims.

Handout F3
Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Community Change to Improve

the Identification of and Response

to Bias Crimes

Possible realms in which to target change:

• Organizational policies of law enforcement and victim assistance departments

and agencies and the criminal justice system

• Organizational policies of affiliated or collaborating organizations (e.g., hospitals

or clinics) and community-based agencies

• Local municipal ordinances and state and federal initiatives

• Professional practice of individuals

Activities can include the following:

• Writing letters to the editor or guest columns of local papers, especially in

community newspapers and in broadcast media targeted to minorities

• Appearing on radio, television, or cable talk shows and programs to present

information and data to the community

• Writing short feature or point-of-view stories for inclusion in the newsletters and

publications of community and professional organizations and associations

• Sitting on the boards of related community organizations

• Making presentations and giving speeches at business and civic group meetings

(e.g., Chamber of Commerce, League of Women Voters) and religious meetings

• Co-sponsoring events in collaboration with local community, religious, and

school leaders (e.g., memorials, family support, or fundraising events)

Handout F4
A A Model

Hate Crime Protocol

Appendix

This protocol, developed

by the San Diego Hate

Crimes Community

Working Group, is

provided as a useful

model for agencies

looking to develop

policies and procedures

for preventing and

responding to hate

crime. Agencies will

find the information on

prevention and on the

roles of law enforcement officers

particularly helpful.

(Note: This protocol

has been reprinted here

with permission of the

Hate Crimes Unit of the

County of San Diego

Office of the District

Attorney. Several

sections on laws and

definitions have been

omitted here because

they were specific to

California law.)

SAN DIEGO COUNTY REGIONAL

HATE CRIMES PROCEDURE MANUAL

October 1999

The Law Enforcement Training Subcommittee of the San Diego (California) Hate Crimes

Community Working Group created this procedure manual. They received help from

many experts from the state of California and also borrowed materials from the hate

crimes training manuals created by the United States Department of Justice and the

training curricula created by the California Peace Officers Standards and Training Hate

Crimes Committees.

Examples of Hate Crimes vs. Hate Incidents

Hate crimes are crimes motivated by bias against a victim based on his or

her actual or perceived race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, ethnicity,

national origin, or disability. Hate incidents are similarly motivated but lack

the elements of damage to property, harm—or the immediate threat of harm—

or violence. Examples of hate incidents as compared to hate crimes are as

follows:

I. Example

A. Hate Incident

Three young male toughs purposely stand outside a convenience store in a

residential section of town where young, professional gay men and lesbian

women are known to live. As two men thought to be gay exit the store, all

three toughs begin taunting the perceived gay men, calling them insulting

and derogatory names. No physical contact or threats are made, but the

humiliating verbal barrage does not end until the perceived gay men enter

their vehicle and drive away.

(Officers shall complete an ARJIS 9 report and the additional victim/witness

form.)

B. Hate Crime

Same facts as above, but as men perceived to be gay exit the store, they are

approached by the same three toughs. Not satisfied with the response, the

toughs’ behavior escalates:

1. One of the toughs goes up to one of the men and points his finger at

the victim and says, “I’m going to kick your ass, faggot.”

(Please see P.C. § 422.6(a), a misdemeanor.)

2. One of the toughs pushes one of the perceived gay men to the ground,

causing him to tear his suit pants and bruise his arm.

(Please see P.C. § 242 & 422.7, a felony.)
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Appendix A. A Model Hate Crime Protocol

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

3. When neither of the gay men fight back but rather enter their car to

depart the parking lot, a second tough produces a knife and slices the

car’s convertible top (on the side), causing damage.

(Please see P.C. § 422.6(b), a misdemeanor; if the damage exceeds

$500, please see 422.7, a felony.)

4. One of the toughs uses the same knife to violently stab the convertible

top near the driver’s side. The perceived gay men are afraid of being

stabbed.

(Please see P.C. § 245(a)(1) and 422.75(c), a felony.)

II. Example

A. Hate Incident

When a bi-racial married couple, with two small children, move into a

predominately Hispanic neighborhood, the new arrivals begin to hear

graphically insulting comments regarding their respective races whenever

they are seen outside their home. Although the comments are not specifically directed at them or their children, the new residents feel intimidated.

Two weeks after moving into the neighborhood, leaflets containing racist and

sexually explicit derogatory graphics are found scattered on the streets in the

neighborhood. When called, the police inform the couple that the leaflets are

protected by the First Amendment to our Constitution.

(Officers shall complete an ARJIS 9 report and the Additional Victim/Witness

form.)

B. Hate Crime

Same facts as above, however:

1. Six weeks after moving into their new home, a rock is thrown through

the family’s living room window.

(Please see P.C. § 422.6(b), a misdemeanor; if the damage exceeds

$500, please see 422.7, a felony.)

2. For three consecutive nights following the rock incident, random gun

shots strike the garage door.

(If the suspects continue to “engage in a pattern of conduct for the

purpose of terrorizing the owner,” then this crime would be a felony

under P.C. § 11411(b).)

III. Example

A. Hate Incident

Beginning one morning in early summer, residents of two different

neighborhoods—one predominantly African-American, the other Jewish—

awaken to find that their respective neighborhoods have been leafleted with

the same flyers. The flyers are graphically anti-African-American and antiJewish in content and contain disgustingly graphic drawings depicting Jews

and African-Americans in unflattering poses.

The flyers continue to appear in the same neighborhoods on random

mornings over a six-month period. Not only are the flyers found on the
159

Appendix A. A Model Hate Crime Protocol

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

street, some are placed on the windshields of parked cars. Residents of both

neighborhoods contact various police agencies to complain about the flyers

and demand an investigation. The complainants are informed that the flyers

are a form of free speech.

(Officers shall complete an ARJIS 9 report and the Additional Victim/Witness

form.)

B. Hate Crime

One morning, a Jewish family awakens to find swastikas painted on their

front door. An African-American family similarly awakens to find Ku Klux

Klan graffiti painted on their driveway and spray-painted on their house.

(Please see P.C.§ 422.6(b) and P.C. 11411, misdemeanors. However, if the

suspects continue to “engage in a pattern of conduct for the purpose of

terrorizing the owner,” then this crime could be a felony under P.C. §

11411(b).)

Prevention Efforts

Departments should develop and implement innovative strategies designed to prevent

and reduce the spread of hate crimes and hate-motivated incidents within their

communities. These programs should be consistent with each department’s mission and

values statements. The programs should take an educational approach and be tailored to

the needs of the community. Departments should engage community leaders and

organizations in their prevention efforts.

Departments should consider developing prevention efforts that include, but are not

limited to, the following:

A. Designating a specific person(s) to deal with hate crimes and hate-motivated

incidents as part of a regular assignment

B. Providing community awareness and education regarding hate crimes and hatemotivated incidents

C. Building partnerships with community leaders and their organizations before major

hate-based incidents occur

D. Collaborating with K–12 schools and institutions of higher education to develop

proper prevention and response plans

E. Educating the community about reporting procedures, legal proceedings, victims’

rights, and victim assistance programs offered by the department or other county

support agencies

F. Ensuring that public outreach literature is readily available in appropriate places

within the community

G. Having personnel assist during investigations to work as liaisons between the

victim(s) and the department’s investigators(s)

H. Participating in the collection and analysis of hate-based incident statistics compiled

by the department and/or other county agencies

I. Cooperating with law enforcement intelligence networks to better anticipate potential

targets of hate-based incidents
160

Appendix A. A Model Hate Crime Protocol

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Reporting

I. Communications Operators

Each agency is responsible for ensuring that its communications staff receive

training to identify what constitutes a hate crime and a hate incident. This will

help ensure an appropriate law enforcement response to reported hate crimes

within each department’s guidelines.

II. Responding Officer

When a responding officer determines that the acts complained of may constitute a

hate crime, this officer is responsible for conducting a thorough preliminary

investigation consistent with department policy. The fact that the suspect may be

biased against the victim’s race, religion, disability, ethnicity, national origin,

gender, or sexual orientation does not mean that a hate crime occurred. Rather,

the offender’s criminal act must have been motivated, in whole or in part, by his or

her bias to be considered a hate crime.

Because motivation is subjective, it is difficult to know with certainty whether a

crime was the result of the offender’s bias. Ideally, officers should locate objective

facts that would lead a reasonable person to conclude that the suspect’s actions

were motivated, in whole or in part, by bias.

When completing the crime report, it is important that relevant information

concerning the race, ancestry, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender,

or disability of all persons involved be included in the report. Additionally:

A. Mark “YES” in the Additional Offenses box.

B. Circle “YES” in the Hate Crime box.

C. Mark “OTHER” box in Suspect Actions category (Line 60) and write in the

words “HATE CRIME.”

D. Enter the appropriate hate crime statute (e.g., P.C. § 422.6, P.C. § 422.7, or

P.C. § 11411) in the Additional Offenses box (on Page 2).

E. Complete narrative consistent with department policy.

F. Remember that a victim may request non-disclosure of his or her name and

address pursuant to P.C. § 6254(f). If so, state this fact in your report, do not

disclose the victim’s information on the face sheet of the report, and use a

supplemental report to disclose the victim’s name and address.

III. Reporting Procedures

Officers should forward a copy of all reports and “Field Identification” cards for

any suspected hate crime or hate incident to their agency’s or area’s hate crimes

detectives. (Please see list of investigative team members.)

IV. Reporting Hate Incidents

A. All reported hate incidents not rising to the level of a hate crime shall be

documented on an ARJIS 9 report.
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Appendix A. A Model Hate Crime Protocol

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

B. The report will contain information concerning the race, ethnicity, religion,

gender, disability, or sexual orientation of the victim(s) involved.

C. The ARJIS Additional Victim and/or Witness form will be used and attached

to the ARJIS 9 report in order to capture accurately the identification of

those persons involved as victims, witnesses, or suspects.

D. These reports must be given an agency case number for tracking and retrieval purposes. They should be forwarded to the person designated by your

agency to investigate, track, and monitor hate crimes.

These reports are extremely valuable when defendants are later prosecuted for

actual hate crimes and claim not to have biases.

II. Dealing with a Victim of a Hate Incident

A. Please see section on victim impact, Special Issues Regarding Victims.

B. Explain to the victim the difference between a hate crime and a hate incident.

C. Explain the department’s policy on dealing with hate incidents (i.e., the

incident will not be forgotten).

D. Give the victim a list of resources in the community.

E. Advise the victim to call your department in the event another hate incident

occurs.

F. For suggestions on preventing hate incidents, please see the Prevention

Efforts section.

First Responder and Investigations

I. General Procedures

A. Pro-Arrest Policy

An arrest should be made in the event that there is reasonable cause to

believe that a hate-related offense has occurred. The arrest may be for a

felony or misdemeanor offense.

B. Felony Arrests

If an officer has reasonable cause to believe that a felony has occurred, an

arrest should be made.

(Note: P.C. § 422.7 elevates certain misdemeanors to felonies when

committed “because of” the victim’s membership in a protected class.)

C. Misdemeanor Arrests

If there is reasonable cause to believe that a misdemeanor offense has been

committed, an arrest should be made. A misdemeanor arrest can be made in

any of the following ways:

1. Misdemeanor committed in an officer’s presence

A suspect should be arrested in the event that a misdemeanor
162

Appendix A. A Model Hate Crime Protocol

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

hate-related incident occurs in an officer’s presence. Such situations

include, but are not limited to, an officer’s witnessing the following:

a. An act of violence against a person

b. Any act of vandalism

c. A direct threat against a victim in a protected classification

d. Any violation of a restraining order

2. Misdemeanor committed outside an officer’s presence

If a person commits a misdemeanor upon a person in a protected

classification, a peace officer may arrest the person without a warrant if

the victim or a witness is willing to make a private person’s arrest.

3. Private person’s arrest

Any time a peace officer is called out on a hate-related crime, the

officer should inform the victim of his or her right to make a private

person’s arrest. This information shall include advising the victim how

to safely execute the arrest. This discussion should be held out of the

presence of the suspect whenever possible. An officer shall not

dissuade complainants from making a private person’s arrest.

II. Preliminary Response to Hate-Related Cases

The first responder is without doubt the most critical officer in the investigation of

hate crimes. This officer’s work at the scene of the hate crime will determine

whether a suspect is ultimately apprehended, whether the victim feels protected or

isolated, and whether the community can trust law enforcement to protect it.

The following steps should be included in an officer’s investigation and

subsequent report:

A. Arrival at Scene

1. Determine what, if any, crime has occurred.

2. Separate the victim, suspect, and witnesses.

3. Prevent communication between parties.

4. Remove victim and witnesses from suspect’s line of sight and range of

hearing.

B. Determining if a Hate Crime Occurred

The officer must look for all signs that may indicate that the crime was

motivated, in whole or in part, by the defendant’s bias against the victim

because of the victim’s membership in a protected class. The following are

only signs. The officer must still conduct a case-by-case investigation.

1. Victim and suspect are members of different groups.

2. Hate language is said before, during and/or after the crime.

3. Symbols of hate are on or in clothing or personal possessions.

4. Overly vicious injuries, more than what you may normally see for the

particular crime.
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5. Gratuitous damage to items of cultural or religious importance.

6. History of the area: Other hate-related incidents have taken place

there.

7. Suspect’s motive: Suspect’s prior similar acts.

8. A relevant date in the victim’s or suspect’s calendar.

9. Make-up of the victim’s community.

10. Lack of other motives: Suspect does not know the victim.

If the incident does not constitute a specific crime, the report shall be titled

“Hate Incident.” (Please see Reporting section.)

III. Special Issues Regarding Victims

Once the responding officer determines that a hate crime occurred, officers need to be

aware of the special impact hate crimes have on victims.

A. Primary Victim Impact

Stronger emotional trauma because the victim was selected due to a core

characteristic of their identity that is immutable:

1. Extra dimension of fear

2. Will feel more vulnerable to a repeat attack

3. Loses trust of any member of offender’s group

4. May reject the aspect of self that was the target of the attack

5. Assumptions about life may be shattered

6. Stronger likelihood of serious or lethal injuries

Follow-up contact for victims should be arranged either by the investigator

of the case, a community relations officer, or a victim advocate. Witnesses

may need to be treated in the same manner as victims because they may be

affected emotionally by the crime.

B. Secondary Victim Impact

Refers to the victim’s perceived rejection by the lack of expected support

from the community or by the response provided by the criminal justice

system.

1. Victim trauma may be exacerbated by the insensitivity of others:

a. Police officers

b. Media

c. Neighbors

d. Co-workers

e. Prosecutors

f. Judges

2. Victims may feel betrayed and hopeless when they confront what they

perceive to be institutional prejudice.
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C. Community Impact

When a hate crime occurs:

1. Victimization is projected outward to all members of the victim’s wider

community.

2. Other members of the same group feel victimized.

3. Members of other commonly targeted groups are reminded of their

vulnerability to similar attacks.

4. The community is polarized into an “us-versus-them” mentality.

5. It impedes community spirit, morale, and growth.

6. Property values are lowered.

7. It increases security concerns at schools, churches, businesses, and

private homes.

IV. Conducting the Interviews

First responders should be aware that most hate crimes go unsolved for lack of

arrests. The services the victim receives on the field from you are likely to be the

only services the victim will receive from the criminal justice system.

A. General Interview Considerations

1. Before conducting interviews of victims, witnesses, and suspects,

officers need to know the elements of the hate crimes and know what

the issues are likely to be. The most common issues in hate crimes are

identity, self-defense, and denials of bias. Identify which one you

have and solicit pertinent information from all people involved,

including witnesses, the victim, and especially the suspects.

2. Provide extra security for the victim, if needed.

3. Remember that hate crimes may have a traumatic effect on all victims,

which may not be readily understood by persons outside of that

particular victim’s community.

4. Obtain an interpreter (or, if time is of critical importance, use a family

member or friend) to interpret for a victim who does not speak in a

language understood by the officer.

5. Explain to the victim that your law enforcement agency takes hate

crimes very seriously and will fully investigate the incident.

6. Explain to the victim what the likely course of the investigation will be,

and prepare the victim for the possibility that a successful case may not

be put together.

7. Protect the anonymity of the victim whenever possible. Anonymity is

of significant importance for many victims of hate crimes, especially

for gay and lesbian victims, particularly if the victim is in the military.
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B. The Victim Interview

1. Note the victim’s physical condition:

a. Show concern for the victim’s safety.

b. Specifically look for injuries and describe them in detail.

c. Make every effort to take pictures.

d. Determine if medical treatment is necessary.

2. Note the victim’s emotional condition:

a. Show concern for the victim’s feelings by telling the victim that

you are sorry the crime happened to him or her.

b. Be seen as a source of security and comfort.

c. Do not diminish the impact of the crime.

d. Allow the victim the opportunity to vent.

e. Display neutrality.

f. Be proactive and supportive.

g. Describe the victim’s emotional state in your report.

h. Do not comment on the victim’s judgment in terms of his/her

own safety.

3. Determine the victim’s financial damages (damages over $500 dollars

may rise the case from a misdemeanor to a felony):

a. Ask the victim how much it would cost to make him or her

whole.

b. Describe the damages in detail.

c. Photograph damages.

d. If the damages involve graffiti, encourage the victim to remove

the graffiti as soon as possible.

e. Ask the victim to save all receipts.

4. General pointers

a. Obtain emergency contacts, telephone number, and pager number

of the victim.

b. Record any spontaneous statements of the victim.

c. Document any evidence of substance or chemical abuse by

victim.

d. Do not allow personal value judgments of the victim’s behavior,

lifestyle, or culture to intrude on the professionalism of your

investigation.

e. Keep in mind the likely issues of identity, self-defense, and

denials of bias, as well as the issues presented by group crimes.

5. Specific questions:

a. Tell me what happened, in a narrative form. (When the victim is

finished, ask follow-up questions.)

b. Tell me exactly what the suspect said before, during, and after the

incident and how often.

c. Do you know why you were targeted?

d. Describe the suspect with as much detail as you can, including

tattoos or clothing.
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e. How long have you lived in this area? Are you the only member

(or one of a few) of [a protected class] who lives in the area?

f. Have there been any prior incidents?

g. Has there been any recent public activity that would make you a

target?

h. Have you been the victim of a hate crime in the past?

C. Cultural Barriers

1. Be aware that if the victims are from a background different from your

own, you may not know what is accepted behavior in their culture.

You may not understand the particular views of a minority person

toward law enforcement.

2. Some victims may harbor feelings of fear or suspicion directed at law

enforcement.

3. Do not allow your personal value judgements of the victim’s behavior,

culture, or lifestyle to intrude on the professionalism of your investigation.

4. Use appropriate terminology to describe minority groups. Be sensitive

to the fact that particular individuals may be offended if they are

described as belonging to a group with which they do not identify.

D. Undocumented Persons as Victims or Witnesses

Often migrant workers are victims or witnesses of hate crimes. Migrant

workers may be in the country without proper documentation. As a result,

some migrant workers feel that physical or verbal abuse can be attributed to

the cost of doing business. Generally, they do not want to be involved in the

criminal justice system for fear of deportation.

1. You may have to persuade the migrant worker to cooperate.

2. Stress that if the suspects are not stopped, their criminality will likely

escalate. The suspect may hurt the migrant worker’s friends or relatives

in the future.

3. Get detailed information regarding their address or the address of

people they stay in contact with, including friends or relatives living

here or in their homeland.

4. Some migrant workers may give you a phony name. Therefore, it is a

good idea to take their picture.

5. Inform the individual that you may be able to obtain a federal parole

for them if they cooperate with the prosecution:

a. In some occasions, federal parole allows the parolee to stay in the

country and work legally, until his or her case is over.

b. Other times, the parolee may have to exit the country after the

case is over.

c. Or, the parolee may be allowed to return to his or her undocumented status.
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 E. Witnesses

1. Make every reasonable effort to find and interview all witnesses,

including going door-to-door looking for witnesses. This sends a

powerful message to the community and potential offenders that law

enforcement does not tolerate such crimes.

2. Inquire from the neighbors as to the suspect’s biased views or any other

prior act that may indicate the suspect’s bias.

3. Interview all witnesses separately.

4. Record names, addresses, phone numbers, and emergency contacts.

5. If an interpreter is used, jot down the interpreter’s identifying

information, the language used, and the interpreter’s qualifications for

that language.

F. Suspect Interview

This is a very important aspect of your investigation. You will probably

never have a chance to speak with the defendant again.

1. Describe suspect’s location on arrival.

2. Describe suspect’s physical condition.

3. Describe suspect’s emotional condition.

4. If there is evidence of substance abuse by suspect, document it and

conduct an examination.

5. Some suspects may mistakenly assume that officers share their biased

perceptions. Accordingly, sometimes law enforcement officers can

simply encourage (of course, without the officer ever using hate

language him or herself) suspects to talk about their feelings toward a

particular minority group, including expressing his or her bias

motivations.

6. Quote spontaneous statements and statements made during the

investigatory stage (pre-Miranda).

7. Make a determination as to whether the suspect needs to be given the

Miranda advisement (or if your questions are simply “investigatory”1

).

8. If necessary, admonish the suspect and get his or her side of the story.

9. Ask how he or she feels about people with the victim’s characteristics.

10. Ask specific questions:

a. How would you like it if someone like the victim moved next

door?

b. How do you feel about this victim?

c. What did this person say or do to make you mad?

d. How did the victim provoke you?

e. How do you feel about this person or group?

1 The suspect needs an advisement only if he or she is “in custody” and is being “interrogated.”
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f. Did the victim just happen to cross your path?

g. What were you doing in that part of town?

h. Do you back your race?

i. Was this your idea?

j. Has the victim’s group hurt you or your friends?

11. Confront the suspect with physical evidence.

12. Confront the defendant with the witnesses and victim’s statements.

13. Remember you can catch more flies with honey ...

 V. Collecting Evidence for Hate Crimes

Officers must look for any evidence that may help solve the probable issues of

identity, self-defense, and denial of biased motive.

A. Identity

You might not get enough evidence to identify a suspect after one crime,

but since hate offenders are often recidivists, the collection of as much

identifying information as possible will lead to a quicker arrest.

1. Ask every victim and witness to describe the suspect, and everything

related to the suspect, with as much detail as possible. For example:

height; weight; hair color, length, and style; facial hair; young or older;

heavy or thin; tattoos; scars; etc.

2. Since most people are bad at describing others, officer should ask the

person giving the description to use him or herself as a reference point.

(Was the suspect taller, heavier, balder, or older than the victim or

witness?)

3. Get as much information as possible regarding any vehicles that the

suspect(s) might have used.

4. Get as much information as possible regarding the defendant’s

companions.

5. Take pictures of a dark scene; that way, you document whether or not it

was possible for the witnesses to see the defendant and his or her

actions.

6. Ask the defendant if he or she has an alibi. If so, test it.

B. Self-Defense2

1. Describe crime scene.

2. Photograph crime scene, if applicable.

3. Determine if firearms or other weapons were present, and, if so, when

the weapons were used.

4. Impound and photograph all weapons and other evidence, including all

instrumentalities of the crime.

2 This defense is inconsistent with the identity defense. If a suspect claims self-defense, then

identity is no longer an issue. A self-defense case is easier to prosecute than an identity case.
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5. Conduct a detailed physical examination of the suspect in search of

injuries or the lack thereof.

6. Document and photograph these injuries or the lack thereof.

7. Note the victim’s size and build.

8. Victim’s physical injuries: Evidence depicting physical injuries is

particularly critical. This evidence helps determine the charges,

settlement positions, and sentencing goals. In the event medical

treatment is necessary:

a. Transport victim, or have victim transported, to hospital.

b. Document complaints of pain and injuries.

c. Have the victim sign a medical records release form.

d. Interview treating physician and confirm nature and severity of

injuries.

C. Denials of Bias

Even after officers have identified a suspect and determined that selfdefense is not an issue, the prosecution must still prove that the crime was

committed “because of” the victim’s actual or perceived membership in a

protected class.

1. Document the exact language used before, during, and after the

commission of an alleged hate crime. Hate language is the most

common way to determine whether the incident was motivated by bias.

2. It is important to recognize hate symbols.3

3. Seize any item that may go to bias (clothing, papers, pictures, etc.).

4. If appropriate, or necessary, ask for consent to search the defendant’s

property in order to search for evidence of bias or confirm any denials

of non-bias.

5. Consider seeking a search warrant. Your local hate crime prosecutors

will be eager to help you.

6. When dealing with a threatening letter or a hate flyer:

a. Collect it and preserve it as evidence.

b. If you are responding to a phone call from a person who has

received a threatening letter, advise him or her to touch the letter

as little as possible.

c. Do not fax or copy the document (to avoid contaminating

fingerprint evidence).

d. Place the threatening letter in a paper (not a plastic) bag so as to

best preserve fingerprints.

e. Arrange to have an officer promptly pick up the threatening

letter, assuring that the chain of evidence is maintained.

f. Touch it as little as possible.

3 The Simon Wiesenthal Center publishes a useful resource on hate symbols called

The New Lexicon of Hate.
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 7. Racist tattoos:

a. Ask the suspect what the tattoo means.

b. If in doubt as to the meaning of a tattoo, photograph it anyway.

c. Try to get a close-up picture of each tattoo.

 VI. Group Crimes

A. General Concepts

Two or more individuals often commit hate crimes. As such, the prosecution

will often rely on conspiracy or aider-and-abettor theories of culpability.

1. Officers should try to figure out what each individual did.

2. Officers should try to determine the relationship amongst all the suspects to one another, for example:

a. how they know one another

b. how long they have known one another

c. whether they were wearing similar clothing

d. whether they have similar tattoos

3. Officers should try to get specific identifying features for each suspect.

4. If the whole group did not equally participate in the crime, officers

should try to determine what the other suspects were doing at the time

the crime was being committed. For example:

a. whether they acted as lookouts

b. whether they acted as back-up muscle

c. what they were doing or saying during the crime

5. If you actually have suspects detained, line them up side by side and

take their photographs, depicting them from their front and back views.

6. If possible, ask the victim and witnesses to tell you at the scene exactly

what each individual suspect said and did.

B. Elements Of Conspiracy

A conspiracy is:

1. An agreement

2. Entered into between two or more persons

3. With the specific intent to agree to commit a crime,

4. Followed by an overt act committed by one of the parties for the

purpose of accomplishing the object of the agreement.

C. General Notes on Conspiracy

1. “Overt act” means any step taken or act committed by one or more of

the conspirators that goes beyond mere planning or agreement to

commit a crime and that is done in furtherance of the accomplishment

of the object of the conspiracy.

2. It is not necessary for the defendant to personally commit the overt act

if he or she was one of the conspirators when the alleged overt act was

committed.
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3. The “overt act” need not itself be a crime, or even an attempt to commit the crime that is the ultimate object of the conspiracy.

4. For example: Tom and Joe agree to burn a community center belonging to a minority group. They formulate a plan and buy the materials

needed, but only Tom drives to the center with the explosives. If Tom

is caught in the parking lot of the center, both Tom and Joe can be

charged.

D. Elements of Aiding and Abetting

A person aids and abets when:

1. With knowledge of the unlawful purpose of the perpetrator;

2. With the intent or purpose of committing or encouraging or facilitating

the commission of the crime, and

3. By act or advice aids, promotes, encourages, or instigates the commission of the crime.

E. General Notes on Aiding and Abetting

1. Mere presence at the scene of a crime, which does not itself assist the

commission of the crime, does not amount to aiding and abetting.

2. Mere knowledge that a crime is being committed and the failure to

prevent it does not amount to aiding and abetting.

3. For example: If Tom is committing a hate crime while Joe is being the

lookout and encouraging Tom by yelling slurs to the victim, Joe is

aiding and abetting Tom.

VII. Completing Crime Report

A. Maintain objectivity in reporting.

B. Avoid personal opinions.

C. Ensure that elements of all involved crimes are included in report (remember,

the prosecution will have to prove the crime plus the additional element of

motive, all beyond a reasonable doubt).

D. Document any injuries victim has sustained on the Hate Crime supplemental

form.

E. Document all evidence collected.

F. Specifically quote any slurs made, as opposed to reporting “hate language” or

“racial slurs.”

G. Keep in mind that under Government Code § 6254(F), the victim’s name and

address may be withheld.

VIII. Victim’s Rights/Officer’s Duty to Advise

Give the victim appropriate referrals:

A. Explain the options available to the victim, including the private person’s
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arrest process, temporary restraining orders (if applicable), and, in cases of

arrest, the follow-up procedures and ensuing criminal proceedings.

B. Advise the victim of available community resources and the state victim

assistance program (Community-Based Organizations).

C. Advise the victim about his or her privacy rights as per Government Code §

6254(F).

IX. Bail Issues

Consider requesting a bail enhancement in situations where the amount listed in

the bail schedule is insufficient to ensure the victim’s safety and the community’s

fears.

Remember that under P.C. § 422.7, violation of P.C. § 240, § 242, or § 417, or any

vandalism with damage over $500, can be charged as a felony. P.C. § 422.75(c)

can add up to four years in state prison to a sentence.

Further Investigative Follow-up

I. Follow-up Investigations

A thorough follow-up investigation must be conducted consistent with department

policy and procedure. Investigators should maintain liaisons with appropriate

state, federal, and local law enforcement agencies for intelligence and information

exchange and assistance, if applicable.

Please refer to suggestions made in the First Responders and Investigations section.

A. Report Writing and Documentation

Prompt preparation of thoroughly written reports of an investigation is of

vital importance to the ultimate examination by prosecutors responsible for

the filing of criminal charges against the perpetrator(s). Investigators should

be aware that reports of hate crimes or hate incidents are forwarded to state

and federal justice departments for documentation purposes, in addition to

being entered into the ARJIS system countywide.

The referrals of reports of potential hate crimes to other enforcement

agencies:

1. increase the chance of successful prosecution

2. enable law enforcement professionals to analyze patterns and trends of

hate crimes or hate incidents in a community

3. may establish evidence linking a particular suspect to more than one

hate crime

B. Situations with a Continuing Risk of Violence

Sometimes victims are in serious risk of further and repeat violence. This is

particularly the case when there has been group or mob activity directed at

minority individuals. Persons who commit hate crimes tend to repeat and

escalate their conduct unless they are stopped by law enforcement. Consequently, victims of hate crime may be at risk of continued harm.
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1. Assess the need for a continuing law enforcement presence in the

neighborhood or at the residence or business of the victim.

2. Increasing law enforcement presence (as by scheduling more frequent

patrols through a neighborhood) can send a strong deterrent message

that further bias-motivated violence will be addressed.

3. Assess the need for sophisticated alarm systems to be provided to

victims at their businesses or homes. Many law enforcement departments and agencies have alarm units, which can be placed into a

person’s home or business and activated by the person if he or she is in

danger of attack.

4. Simple steps such as making sure that locks work and that outside

areas are properly lighted can significantly increase security to an

affected victim.

5. Consider holding community meetings to try to dispel anxieties and

present accurate factual information, including differentiating an

individual’s act from a pattern of behavior that can create community

polarization and conflict.

6. Graffiti:

a. Graffiti aimed at a particular group is a message, which constantly repeats itself to members of the affected group until the

message is erased.

b. Encourage the property owner, perhaps with the help of community groups, to remove the graffiti.

c. However, caution against using unsupervised youths to remove

graffiti, as they could be misconstrued as an opposing gang.

d. Some law enforcement departments and agencies have assumed

the responsibility for removing graffiti by providing funds or

personnel or by using community service hours.

C. Press and Community Relations

Hate crimes often are the focus of significant public and community attention. In dealing with the press and with community members, and subject to

departmental procedures on press relations, the investigating officer should

firmly and forthrightly confirm if your agency is investigating whether or

not the alleged incident is a hate crime. The investigating officer should

further state that his or her agency considers the investigation of hate crimes

and apprehension of hate crime offenders to be of paramount importance.

These types of strong public statements:

1. demonstrate to the entire community the commitment of law enforcement to stopping hate crimes, and

2. send a strong deterrent message to would-be perpetrators.

Remember that an inadvertent or casual comment minimizing the incident

may cause deterioration in the relations between law enforcement and the

community and may undermine any subsequent prosecution.
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Conclusion

Hate crime victims are usually targeted not because of anything they have said or done

to the suspects or for financial gain, but because of who they are or what they believe in.

As such, hate crimes violate the very basic tenets of our democracy by targeting the right

of every resident to be himself or herself and live safely and freely.

Perpetrators of hate crimes seek to send a message to the victim and his or her community that they are unwanted, that they do not belong, and that the community at large

does not care about what happens to them. Although it is unrealistic to believe that we

can eliminate all hate crimes, we in law enforcement can drastically diminish their

impact by the approach we take when dealing with hate crimes. We can send an even

stronger countermessage. We should communicate to the victim, the community, and

the defendant that we will do everything we can to apprehend those who seek to

terrorize any member of our community.
B State Bias Crimes

Statutory Provisions

Appendix 1 The following states also have statutes criminalizing interference with religious worship: CA, DC, FL, ID, MD, MA,

MI, MN, MS, MO, NV, NM, NY, NC, OK, RI, SC, SD, TN, VA, WV.

2 “Other” includes mental and physical disability or handicap (AL, AK, AZ, CA, DC, DE, IL, IA, LA, ME, MA, MN, NE,

NV, NH, NJ, NY, OK, RI, VT, WA, WI), political affiliation (DC, IA, LA, WV) and age (DC, IA, LA, VT).

3

 States with data collection statutes that include sexual orientation are AZ, CA, CT, DC, FL, IL, IA, MD, MN, NV, OR

and WA; those that include gender are AZ, DC, IL, IA, MN, WA.

4 Some other states have regulations mandating such training.

5 New York State law provides penalty enhancement limited to the crime of aggravated harassment.

6 The Texas statute refers to victims selected “because of the defendant’s bias or prejudice against a person or group.” 7 The Utah statute ties penalties for hate crimes to violations of the victim’s constitutional or civil rights.

Reprinted with permission from 1999 Hate Crimes Law (27 January, 2000). Anti-Defamation League

Homepage (http://www.adl.org/99hatecrime/provisions.html).

 AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DC DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO

Bias-Motivated Violence • • • • • • • • • •• • •• •• • • • •

and Intimidation

 Civil Action • • • •• • •• • • •• • •

 Criminal Penalty • • • • • • • • • •• • •• •• • • • •

 Race, Religion1

, • • • • • • • • • •• • •• •• • • • •

 Ethnicity

 Sexual Orientation • • • • •• • • •• • •

 Gender • • • • •• •• • • •

 Other2 • • • • • • •• •• • •

Institutional Vandalism • • • • • • • •• • • •• •• •• •• • • •

Data Collection3 • • •• • •• • • •• •• • • •

Training for Law

Enforcement Personnel4 • • ••• • • •

(continued)
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Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY

 • • • • • •5 • • • • • • • • • •6 •7 • • • • •

 • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

 • • • • • • • • •

 • • • • • • • • •

 • • • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

 • • • • • • • • • •

 • • •

1 The following states also have statutes criminalizing interference with religious worship: CA, DC, FL, ID, MD, MA,

MI, MN, MS, MO, NV, NM, NY, NC, OK, RI, SC, SD, TN, VA, WV.

2 “Other” includes mental and physical disability or handicap (AL, AK, AZ, CA, DC, DE, IL, IA, LA, ME, MA, MN, NE,

NV, NH, NJ, NY, OK, RI, VT, WA, WI), political affiliation (DC, IA, LA, WV) and age (DC, IA, LA, VT).

3

 States with data collection statutes that include sexual orientation are AZ, CA, CT, DC, FL, IL, IA, MD, MN, NV, OR

and WA; those that include gender are AZ, DC, IL, IA, MN, WA.

4 Some other states have regulations mandating such training.

5 New York State law provides penalty enhancement limited to the crime of aggravated harassment.

6 The Texas statute refers to victims selected “because of the defendant’s bias or prejudice against a person or group.” 7 The Utah statute ties penalties for hate crimes to violations of the victim’s constitutional or civil rights.

Reprinted with permission from 1999 Hate Crimes Law (27 January, 2000). Anti-Defamation League

Homepage (http://www.adl.org/99hatecrime/provisions.html).

Bias-Motivated Violence

and Intimidation

Civil Action

Criminal Penalty

Race, Religion1

,

Ethnicity

Sexual Orientation

Gender

Other2

Institutional Vandalism

Data Collection3

Training for Law

Enforcement Personnel4
C Bias Crimes Statutes and

Related Provisions Nationwide

Appendix

Compiled by the Massachusetts Office of The Attorney General, Civil Rights Division,

October 1997. Reprinted with permission.

Alabama

Ala. Code § 13A-5-13 (Penalty Enhancement) (1993)

Ala. Code § 13A-11-12 (Institutional Vandalism, Desecration of Religious Institutions)

(1977)

Alaska

Alaska Stat. § 12.55.155 (Penalty Enhancement) (1996)

Arizona

Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 13-1604 (Institutional Vandalism, Desecration of Religious

Institutions) (1994)

Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 13-1702 (Penalty Enhancement) (1997)

Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 41-1750 (Data Collection) (1991)

Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 41-1822 (Training Law Personnel) (1991)

Arkansas

Ark. Code Ann. § 5-71-207 (Disturbing Religious Worship) (1975)

Ark. Code Ann. § 5-71-215 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious

Institutions) (1993)

Ark. Code Ann. § 16-123-105 (Civil Action, Private, Damages) (1995)

Ark. Code Ann. § 16-123-106 (Civil Action, Private, Damages and Injunction) (1993)

Ark. Code Ann. § 16-123-107 (Civil Action, Private, Damages and Injunction) (1995)

California

Cal. Civil Code § 52 (Civil Action, Private and Attorney General, Damages and

Injunction) (1994)

Cal. Penal Code § 51.7 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories) (1994)

Cal. Penal Code § 136.2 (Stay Away Order once criminal charges filed) (1996)

Cal. Penal Code § 302 (Disturbing Religious Worship) (1994)

Cal. Penal Code § 422.6 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories and

Institutional Vandalism) (1994)

Cal. Penal Code § 422.75 (Penalty Enhancement) (1995)

Cal. Penal Code § 422.9 (Violation of Civil Injunction is a Criminal Penalty) (1987)

Cal. Penal Code § 422.95 (Sensitivity Training) (1995)

Cal. Penal Code § 594.3 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious

Institutions) (1983)

Cal. Penal Code § 11410 (Declaration of Purpose for Criminal Sanctions)

Cal. Penal Code § 11411 (Cross Burning) (1991)

Cal. Penal Code § 11412 (Obstructing Exercise of Religion) (1984)

Cal. Penal Code § 1170.75 (Penalty Enhancement) (1994)

Cal. Penal Code § 13519.6 (Data Collection and Training Law Personnel) (1992)
178

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Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Colorado

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-9-113 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious

Institutions) (1991)

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-9-121 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories and

Institutional Vandalism) (1988)

Connecticut

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 29-7m (Data Collection) (1987)

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 33-37 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories) (1949)

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46a-58 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories, Cross

Burning, and Desecration of Religious Institutions) (1984)

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46a-64 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories—Public

Accommodation Discrimination) (1990)

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 46a-64c (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories—Housing

Discrimination) (1992)

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-571(a) (Civil Action, Private, Injunction) (1993)

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-571(c) (Civil Action, Private, Damages) (1995)

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 53-37(a) (Mask or Hood Wearing) (1982)

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 53-37(b) (Independent Criminal Civil Rights without Categories) (1993)

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 53a-40a (Penalty Enhancement) (1990)

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 53a-181b (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories and

Institutional Vandalism) (1990)

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 562-251b (Civil Action, Private, Damages) (1984)

Delaware

De. Code Ann. tit. 11, § 304 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights without Categories and

Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories) (1997)

De. Code Ann. tit. 11, § 805 (Cross Burning) (1993)

De. Code Ann. tit. 11, § 1301(1)(g) (Mask Wearing) (1953)

De. Code Ann. tit. 11, § 4209(e)(1)(v) (Penalty Enhancement—Aggravating Circumstance

in Death Penalty Statute) (1995)

District of Columbia

D.C. Code Ann. § 22-3112.2 (Cross-Burning and Desecration of Religious Institutions)

(1983)

D.C. Code Ann. § 22-3112.3 (Mask Wearing) (1983)

D.C. Code Ann. § 22-4001 (Defines Bias-Related Crimes)

D.C. Code Ann. § 22-4002 (Data Collection) (1990)

D.C. Code Ann. § 22-4003 (Penalty Enhancement) (1990)

D.C. Code Ann. § 22-4004 (Civil Action, Private, Damages and Injunction) (1990)

Florida

Fla. Stat. Ann. § 760.51 (Civil Action, Attorney General, Damages and Injunction) (1994)

Fla. Stat. Ann. § 775.085 (Penalty Enhancement and Civil Action, Private, Damages and

Injunction) (1992)

Fla. Stat. Ann. § 775.0845 (Penalty Enhancement for Mask Wearing) (1995)

Fla. Stat. Ann. § 806.13 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious

Institutions) (1995)

Fla. Stat. Ann. § 876.17 (Cross Burning, Public Place) (1993)

Fla. Stat. Ann. § 876.18 (Cross Burning, Another’s Property) (1993)

Fla. Stat. Ann. § 877.19 (Data Collection) (1996)
179

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© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Georgia

Ga. Code Ann. § 16-7-26 (Desecration of Religious Institutions) (1968)

Ga. Code Ann. § 16-11-37(b)(1) (Cross Burning) (1974)

Ga. Code Ann. § 16-11-38 (Mask Wearing) (1968)

Hawaii

Haw. Rev. Stat. § 711-1107 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious Institutions) (1993)

Idaho

Idaho Code § 67-2915 (Data Collection) (1995)

Idaho Code § 18-7301 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories) (1972)

Idaho Code § 18-7901 (Declaration of Purpose for Criminal Sanctions) (1983)

Idaho Code § 18-7902 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories, Desecration of

Religious Institutions, Institutional Vandalism, Cross Burning) (1983)

Idaho Code § 18-7903 (Civil Action, Private, Damages and Injunction) (1983)

Illinois

20 Ill. Comp. Stat. 2605/55a(A)31 (Data Collection and Training Law Personnel) (1995)

720 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/12-7.1 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories and Civil

Action, Private, Damages and Injunction) (1996)

720 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/21-1.2 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious

Institutions) (1994)

730 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/5-5-3.2(a)(10) (Penalty Enhancement) (1996)

Indiana

Ind. Code Ann. § 22-9.5-10-1 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories—Fair

Housing) (1993)

Ind. Code Ann. § 35-43-1-2 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious

Institutions) (1996)

Iowa

Iowa Code § 692.15 (Data Collection) (1996)

Iowa Code § 708.2C and 229A.2 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories)

(1995)

Iowa Code § 712.9 and 729A.2 (Penalty Enhancement) (1992)

Iowa Code § 716.6A and 729A.2 (Penalty Enhancement) (1992)

Iowa Code § 729.4 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories—Fair Employment

Practices) (1987)

Iowa Code § 729.5 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights without Categories, Institutional

Vandalism) (1992)

Iowa Code § 729A.1 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories) (1992)

Iowa Code § 729A.4 (Training Law Personnel) (1992)

Iowa Code § 729A.5 (Civil Action, Private, Damages and Injunction) (1992)

Kansas

Kan. Stat. Ann. § 21-4003 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories) (1993)

Kan. Stat. Ann. § 21-4111 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious

Institutions) (1994)

Kan. Stat. Ann. § 21-4716 (Penalty Enhancement) (1994)
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Kentucky

Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 15.331 (Training Law Personnel) (1992)

Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 17.1523 (Data Collection) (1992)

Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 344.450 (Civil Action, Private, Damages and Injunction) (1996)

Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 525.110 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious

Institutions) (1992)

Louisiana

La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 14:107.2 (Penalty Enhancement) (1997)

La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 14:225 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious

Institutions) (1984)

La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 15:1204.2(B)(4) and 1204.4 (Data Collection) (1997)

La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 40:2403(H) (Training Law Personnel) (1997)

Maine

Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 5, § 4681 (Civil Action, Attorney General, Injunction, Violation of

Injunction is a Criminal Penalty) (1995)

Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 5, § 4682 (Civil Action, Private, Damages and Injunction,

Violation of Injunction is a Criminal Penalty) (1995)

Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 17, § 2931 and tit. 5, § 4684A (Independent Criminal Civil Rights

with Categories) (1987 and 1993)

Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 17-A, § 507 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious

Institutions) (1976)

Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 17-A, § 507A (Desecration of Religious Institutions-Cemetery/

Burial Ground) (1987)

Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 17-A, § 1151(8)(B) (Penalty Enhancement) (1995)

Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 25, § 1544 (Data Collection) (1991)

Maryland

Md. Code Ann. art. 27, § 470A (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories,

Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious Institutions) (1994)

Md. Code Ann. art. 88B, § 9 (Data Collection) (1992)

Massachusetts

Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 12, § 11H (Civil Action, Attorney General, Injunction) (1982)

Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 12, § 11I (Civil Action, Private, Damages and Injunction)

(1982)

Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 12, § 11J (Violation of Injunction is a Criminal Penalty) (1985)

Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 22C, §§ 33 to 35 (Data Collection) (1991)

Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 265, § 37 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights without Categories) (1979)

Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 265, § 39 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories

and Diversity Awareness Program) (1997)

Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 266, § 98 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of

Religious Institutions) (1960)

Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 266, § 116B (Training Law Personnel) (1991)

Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 266, § 127A (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of

Religious Institutions) (1989)

Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 268, § 34 (Mask Wearing) (1902)

Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 272, § 38 (Disturbing Religious Worship) (1970)

Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 272, § 98 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories—

Public Accommodations Discrimination) (1970)
181

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Michigan

Mich. Comp. Laws. Ann. § 14.101 (Civil Action, Attorney General, Damages and Injunction)

(1970)

Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. § 750.147b (Institutional Vandalism, Desecration of Religious

Institutions, Cross Burning, Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories and Civil

Action, Private, Damages and Injunction) (1989)

Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. § 752.525 (Disturbing Religious Worship) (1994)

Mich. Executive Order (Data Collection) (1996 and 1997)

Minnesota

Minn. Stat. Ann. § 363.12 (Declaration of Policy for Criminal Sanctions) (1993)

Minn. Stat. Ann. § 609.2231 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories) (1989)

Minn. Stat. Ann. § 609.28 (Disturbing Religious Worship) (1994)

Minn. Stat. Ann. § 609.595 (Institutional Vandalism) (1989)

Minn. Stat. Ann. § 609.749(3) (1) (Penalty Enhancement) (1995)

Minn. Stat. Ann. § 611A.79 (Civil Action, Private, Injunction and Damages) (1996)

Minn. Stat. Ann. § 626.5531 (Data Collection) (1997)

Minn. Stat. Ann. § 626.8451 (Training Law Enforcement) (1993)

Mississippi

Miss. Code Ann. § 97-17-39 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious

Institutions) (1993)

Miss. Code Ann. § 97-35-17 (Disturbing Religious Worship) (1993)

Miss. Code Ann. § 99-19-301 and § 99-19-307 (Penalty Enhancement) (1994)

Missouri

Mo. Ann. Stat. § 537.523 (Civil Action, Private, Damages and Injunction) (1988)

Mo. Ann. Stat. § 574.085 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious Institutions)

(1997)

Mo. Ann. Stat. § 574.090 (Penalty Enhancement) (1988)

Mo. Ann. Stat. § 574.093 (Penalty Enhancement) (1988)

Montana

Mont. Code Ann. § 45-5-221 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories,

Institutional Vandalism, Cross Burning) (1989)

Mont. Code Ann. § 45-5-222 (Penalty Enhancement) (1989)

Mont. Code Ann. § 49-2-601 and § 49-2-602 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with

Categories—Housing Discrimination) (1993)

Nebraska

Neb. Stat. Ann. § 28-101 (Penalty Enhancement and Civil Action, Private, Damages) (1997)

Neb. L.B. 90, 1997 Legislative Session (Data Collection) (1997)

Nevada

Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 41.690 (Civil Action, Private, Damages) (1995)

Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 193.1675 (Penalty Enhancement) (1997)

Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 201.270 (Disturbing Religious Worship) (1995)

Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 206.125 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious

Institutions) (1995)

Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 207.185 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories) (1995)

New Hampshire

N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 651.6 (Penalty Enhancement) (1995)
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New Jersey

N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2A:53A-21 (Civil Action, Private and Attorney General, Damages and

Injunction) (1995)

N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:12-1(b)(6)(e) (Penalty Enhancement) (1995)

N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:33-4 (Penalty Enhancement) (1995)

N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:33-9 (Desecration of Religious Institutions) (1979)

N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:33-10 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights without Categories) (1995)

N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:33-11 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious

Institutions) (1995)

N.J. Stat. Ann. § 2C:44-3 (Penalty Enhancement) (1995)

Attorney General Directive No. 1987-3 (Data Collection) (1987)

N.J. Bias Incident Investigation Standards (Training Law Personnel) (Sept. 1991)

New Mexico

N.M. Stat. Ann. § 30-13-1 (Disturbing Religious Worship) (1963)

N.M. Stat. Ann. § 30-15-4 (Desecration of Religious Institutions) (1965)

New York

N.Y. Civ. Rights Law § 40-c to -d (Independent Criminal Civil Rights without Categories

and with Categories) (1981)

N.Y. Exec. Law 63 (Civil Action, Attorney General, Damages) (1993)

N.Y. Penal Law 240.21 (Disturbing Religious Worship) (1967)

N.Y. Penal Law 240.30 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories) (1992)

North Carolina

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-3 (Penalty Enhancement) (1993)

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-12.12 (Cross Burning) (1967)

N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 14-12.13 and 14-12.14 (Mask Wearing) (1993)

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-49 (Institutional Vandalism, Desecration of Religious Institutions)

(1993)

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-62.2 (Church Burning) (1997)

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-144 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious Institutions) (1995)

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-199 (Obstructing Religious Worship) (1993)

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-401.14 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories) (1993)

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-1340.16 (Penalty Enhancement) (1995)

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 15A-1340.16(d) (Penalty Enhancement) (1994)

North Dakota

N.D. Cent. Code § 12.1-14-04 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories) (1973)

N.D. Cent. Code § 12.1-14-05 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights without Categories)

(1973)

Ohio

Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2307.70 (Civil Action, Private, Damages) (1990)

Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2909.05 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious

Institutions - burial) (1993)

Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2927.11 (Desecration of Religious Institutions) (1986)

Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2927.12 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories) (1987)

Oklahoma

Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 21, § 850 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories,

Institutional Vandalism and Data Collection) (1992)
183

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© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 21, § 915 (Disturbing Religious Worship) (1921)

Okla. Stat. Ann. tit. 21, § 1765 (Desecration of Religious Institutions) (1921)

Oregon

Or. Rev. Stat. § 30.190 (Civil Action, Private, Damages and Injunction) (1983)

Or. Rev. Stat. § 166.155 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories) (1989)

Or. Rev. Stat. § 166.165 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories) (1989)

Or. Rev. Stat. § 166.075 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious

Institutions) 1971)

Or. Rev. Stat. § 181.550 (Data Collection) (1989)

Pennsylvania

Pa. Cons. Stat., tit. 18, § 2710 (Penalty Enhancement) (1982)

Pa. Cons. Stat., tit. 18, § 3307 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious

Institutions) (1994)

Pa. Cons. Stat., tit. 18, § 5509 (Desecration of Religious Institutions) (1973)

Pa. Cons. Stat., tit 42, § 8309 (Civil Action, Private, Damages and Injunction; Attorney

General, Injunction; Violation of an Injunction is a Criminal Penalty) (1997)

Pa. Cons. Stat., tit. 71, § 250 (Data Collection) (1987)

Rhode Island

R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-35 (Civil Action, Private, Damages and Injunction) (1985)

R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-5-13 (Penalty Enhancement) (1994)

R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-11-1 (Disturbing Religious Worship) (1994)

R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-42-3 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories) (1994)

R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-44-31 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious

Institutions) (1986)

R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-53-1 (Declaration of Purpose for Criminal Sanctions) (1994)

R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-53-2 (Cross Burning) (1994)

R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-53-3 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories) (1983)

R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-28-46 (Data Collection) (1994)

R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-28.2-8.1 (Training Law Personnel) (1993)

South Carolina

S.C. Code Ann. § 16-5-10 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights without Categories) (1994)

S.C. Code Ann. § 16-17-520 (Disturbing Religious Worship) (1962)

S.C. Code Ann. § 16-17-560 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories-Political

Rights/Opinions) (1994)

S.C. Code Ann. § 16-17-600 (Desecration of Religious Institutions) (1994)

South Dakota

S.D. Codified Laws Ann. § 22-19B-1 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories

and Institutional Vandalism) (1993)

S.D. Codified Laws Ann. § 22-19B-2 (Cross Burning) (1993)

S.D. Codified Laws Ann. § 22-19B-3 (Civil Action, Private, Damages) (1993)

S.D. Codified Laws Ann. § 22-27-1 (Disturbing Religious Worship) (1976)

Tennessee

Tenn. Code Ann. § 4-21-701 (Civil Action, Private, Damages) (1990)

Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-309 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights without Categories,

Institutional Vandalism, Mask Wearing) (1990)

Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-311 (Desecration of Religious Institutions) (1989)
184

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Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Texas

Tex. Gov. Code Ann. § 411.046 (Data Collection) (1991)

Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 12.47 and Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 42.014 (Penalty Enhancement)

(1993)

Tex. Penal Code Ann. § 28.03 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious

Institutions) (1994)

Utah

Utah Stat. Ann. § 76-3-203.3 (Penalty Enhancement) (1992)

Utah Stat. Ann. § 76-6-106 (Institutional Vandalism) (1996)

Utah Stat. Ann. § 76-6-107 (Institutional Vandalism) (1996)

Vermont

Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 13, § 1455 (Penalty Enhancement) (1990)

Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 13, § 1456 (Cross Burning) (1990)

Vt. Stat. Ann. tit. 13, § 1457 (Civil Action, Private, Damages and Injunction) (1990)

Virginia

Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-42-1 (Civil Action, Private, Damages and Injunction) (1988)

Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-57 (Penalty Enhancement) (1997)

Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-127 (Desecration of Religious Institutions) (1990)

Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-138 (Institutional Vandalism) (1990)

Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-422 (Mask Wearing) (1986)

Va. Code Ann. § 18.2-423 (Cross Burning) (1983)

Va. Code Ann. § 52-8.5 (Data Collection) (1988)

Washington

Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 9.61.160 (Threats to Bomb or Injure Religious Institutions and

Public Property) (1977)

Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 9A.36.078 (Declaration of Findings/Policy for Criminal Sanctions)

(1993)

Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 9A.36.080 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories,

Institutional Vandalism and Cross Burning) (1993)

Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 9A.36.083 (Civil Action, Private, Damages) (1993)

Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 36.28A.030 (Data Collection) (1993)

Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 43.101.290 (Training Law Personnel) (1993)

West Virginia

W.Va. Code § 5-11-20 (Civil Action, Attorney General, Injunction and Civil Penalties) (1998)

W.Va. Code § 15-2-24(i) (Data Collection) (1977)

W.Va. Code § 61-6-13 (Disturbing Religious Worship) (1993)

W.Va. Code § 61-6-21 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories and Penalty

Enhancement) (1993)

W.Va. Code § 61-6-22 (Mask Wearing) (1993)

Wisconsin

Wis. Stat. Ann. § 895.75 (Civil Action, Private, Damages) (1996)

Wis. Stat. Ann. § 939.641 (Penalty Enhancement for Mask Wearing) (1996)

Wis. Stat. Ann. § 939.645 (Penalty Enhancement) (1996)

Wis. Stat. Ann. § 943.012 (Institutional Vandalism and Desecration of Religious Institutions)

(1996)

Wyoming

Wy. Stat. Ann. § 6-9-102 (Independent Criminal Civil Rights with Categories) (1982)
D Resources

Bias Crime Bibliography

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America’s Far-Right Fringe. New York, NY: Anti-Defamation League.

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Anti-Defamation League.

Anti-Defamation League (1997). High-Tech Hate: Extremist Use of the Internet. New

York, NY: Anti-Defamation League.

Anti-Defamation League (1999). A Parent’s Guide to Hate on the Internet. New York, NY:

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Bard, M. & Sangrey, D. (1986). The Crime Victim’s Book. New York, NY: Brunner/Mazel.

Berrill, K. (1992). Countering Anti-Gay Violence Through Legislation. Washington, DC:

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Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

Bishop, E. & Slowikowski, J. (15 September, 1999). “Hate Crime.” National Criminal Justice

Reference Service Homepage (http://www.ncjrs.org/txtfiles/fs-9529.txt).

Bodinger de Uriarte, C. & Sancho, A. R. (1991). Hate Crime: A Sourcebook for Schools

Confronting Bigotry, Harassment, Vandalism and Violence. Los Alamitos, CA: Southwest

Center for Educational Equity, Southwest Regional Laboratory.

Brislin, R., Cushner, K., Craig, C., & Yong, M. (1986). Intercultural Interactions: A Practical

Guide. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Bullard, S. (Ed.) (1991). A History of Racism and Violence. Montgomery, AL: Southern

Poverty Law Center.

Bureau of Justice Assistance (1997). “A Policymaker’s Guide to Hate Crimes.” National

Criminal Justice Reference Service Homepage (http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles/

162304.pdf).

California Association of Human Relations Organizations (27 September, 1999). “LA County

Sheriff’s Department Adopts an Up-to-Date Hate Crime Policy.” California Association of

Human Relations Organizations Homepage (http://www.cahro.org/html/

lasherriffhatepolicy.html).

California Association of Human Relations Organizations (27 September, 1999). “Revisiting

Hate Violence Reporting.” California Association of Human Relations Organizations

Homepage (http://www.cahro.org/html/hateviolencereporting.html).

Center for Democratic Renewal (1992). When Hate Groups Come to Town: A Handbook of

Effective Community Responses. Atlanta, GA: Center for Democratic Renewal.

Comstock, G. D. (1991). Violence Against Lesbians and Gay Men: Between Men—Between

Women. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.

Copeland, L. & Wolfe, L. R. (1991). Violence Against Women as Bias-Motivated Hate Crime:

Defining the Issues. Washington, DC: Center for Women Policy Studies.

Criminal Justice Information Services Division (1999). Hate Crimes Statistics 1998 (Uniform

Crime Reports). Clarksburg, WV: Criminal Justice Information Services Division, Federal

Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Justice.

Ehrlich, H. J. (1992). Campus Ethnoviolence: A Research Review. Baltimore, MD: National

Institute Against Prejudice and Violence.

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191

 Appendix D. Resources

© National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

Websites Relevant to Bias Crime

Anti-Defamation League

www.adl.org

Center on Juvenile & Criminal Justice

www.cjcj.org

Hate Directory: Hate Groups on the Internet

www.bcpl.lib.md.us/~rfrankli/hatedir.htm

Hate Watch

www.hatewatch.org/index1.html

International Association of Chiefs of Police

www.theiacp.org

Justice Research and Statistics Association

www.jrsainfo.org/main.html

Leadership Conference Education Fund

www.civilrights.org/lcef

National Association of Attorneys General

www.naag.org

National Center for Hate Crime Prevention

www.edc.org/HHD/hatecrime/

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control

www.cdc.gov/ncipc/ncipchm.htm

National Center for Victims of Crime

www.nvc.org

National District Attorneys Association

www.ndaa.org

National Organization for Victim Assistance

www.try-nova.org

Police Executive Research Forum

www.policeforum.org

Southern Poverty Law Center

www.splcenter.org

Stop the Hate

www.stopthehate.org

U.S. Department of Education

www.ed.gov

Office for Civil Rights

www.ed.gov/offices/OCR

Safe & Drug-Free Schools Program

www.ed.gov/offices/OESE/SDFS
192

Appendix D. Resources

Responding to Hate Crime: A Multidisciplinary Curriculum

U.S. Department of Justice

www.usdoj.gov

Bureau of Justice Assistance

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA

Civil Rights Division

www.usdoj.gov/crt/crt-home.html

Federal Bureau of Investigation

www.fbi.gov

Uniform Crime Reports

www.fbi.gov/ucr.htm

National Criminal Justice Reference Service, Justice Information Center

www.ncjrs.org

National Institute of Justice

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij

Office for Victims of Crime

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention

ojjdp.ncjrs.org