Alan Stepakoff, whose son, Joshua, was wounded in the community center attack, said California's hate crime laws do not appear to be adequate. There is a need to make a clear statement against the tolerance of this kind of behavior and it needs to come from Washington. Consistent with overall drop in crime However unscientific, the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program does show the total number of hate crimes reported to law enforcement nationwide lastyear dipped slightly from 1997. There were 7,755 bias-motivated criminal incidents reported in 1998, compared with 8,049 incidents reported in 1997, consistent with overall trends showing a 5 percent drop in serious crime last year. In 1998, there were 9,235 specific offenses and 9,861 in 1997.
Several offenses can occur at a single incident.
The cities with the most reported hate crimes were Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and San Diego. Most offenses were against people rather than property, the report said, with intimidation the most common. Destruction and vandalism also saw high numbers, as did simple and aggravated assault. Thirteen homicides were attributed to hate. But whites also were targets, with 792 reported cases.