National Urban League Concerned About Underreporting In FBI's Hate Crime Report
NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE CONCERNED ABOUT UNDERREPORTING IN FBI’S ANNUAL HATE CRIME STATISTICS REPORT
Washington, D.C. (December 13, 2022) – Today, National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial issued the following statement in response to the 2021 FBI Hate Crimes Statistics Report:
"Yesterday's release for the 2021 FBI Hate Crimes report shows an egregious underreporting of hate crimes in cities across the country where we have seen hate crime attacks on our most vulnerable communities. Still, amongst the jurisdictions reporting, the trends are alarming. The report shows that 64.8% of victims were targeted due to their race, ethnicity, or ancestry, while 15.6% were targeted due to sexual orientation. Of the 8,673 hate crimes reported, 41% of them have been committed against the Black community alone.
“The continuous rise in hate crimes and the lack of timely data on these incidents put whole communities and its residents at risk. Compared to last year, 22 percent fewer law enforcement agencies across the country, the lowest number of agencies in two decades, submitted data for the 2021 report because many have not yet transitioned to the National Incident-Based Reporting System. This includes some of the nation's largest jurisdictions, like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. As the nation grapples with rising political tensions and concerns about violent crime, we need to know that law enforcement agencies are providing accurate hate crimes data for us to formulate tangible and effective responses to impacted communities.
“After the domestic terroristic attack in Buffalo, NY, the National Urban League joined several leading civil rights groups in calling on President Biden to host a Hate Crimes Summit to give groups a platform to acknowledge the lasting impact these incidents have on our communities. The Summit was held in September and provided a necessary first step to addressing the spread of violence and preserving our democracy. We are now working to ensure the solutions coming out of that summit are being implemented.
“We must demand that our leaders at the state and local level take all necessary steps to protect vulnerable communities, and we will continue to work with the Biden Administration and Congressional leadership to hold perpetrators of hate crimes accountable and address the root causes and spreaders of hate and bias before they become violent.”
To read the full FBI Statistic Hate Crimes Report, click here.