Using Research to Improve Hate Crime Reporting and Identification

This study, supported by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), is helping to fill in vital details on causes of hate crime underreporting in various communities, including:

• hate crime victims’ reluctance to engage with law enforcement;
• victims’ and law enforcement agencies’ inability to recognize certain victimizations as hate crimes;
• a very large deficit of hate crime reporting by law enforcement agencies of all sizes; and
• variations in hate crime definitions across jurisdictions.