Controlling Legislation
Role of the Law Enforcement Community
The Role of the Law Enforcement Community in Combatting Hate Crimes
Hate crimes are a form of domestic terrorism. They send the poisonous message that some Americans deserve to be victimized solely because of who they are. Like other acts of terrorism, hate crimes have an impact far greater than the impact on the individual victims. They are crimes against entire communities, against the whole nation, and against the fundamental ideals on which America was founded. They are a violation of all our country stands for. -- Senator Edward Kennedy, Remarks on the Matthew Shepard Act (September 25, 2007)
The epigraph above is a useful description of the monumental impact that hate crimes can have on American society and underscores the importance of the law enforcement community in combatting these crimes. Although there were some high-profile hate crimes committed in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the actual number of hate crimes that have been committed in the United States over the past decade or so, with the exception of sexual orientation-related hate crimes, has actually decreased. To determine the facts, this paper reviews the literature to provide a background and overview of the hate crime problem in the United States, the controlling legislation that has been enacted to address the problem, and the role of the law enforcement community in combatting hate crimes. A summary of the research and important findings concerning recent trends in hate crime law enforcement are provided in the paper's conclusion.
Review and Discussion
Background and Overview
The human condition is frequently characterized by some people harboring various negative attitudes concerning a specific group and these individuals subsequently commit crimes against those they consider to be members of this group and these types of crimes are frequently termed "hate crimes." Hate crimes can be fueled by a wide range of perceived differences in other groups of people. For instance, Isaacs (2007) reports that, "Individuals have been beaten to death because of their sexual orientation, lynched because of the color of their skin, or shot because of their religious affiliation" (p. 32). The Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990 defines hate crimes as "crimes that manifest evidence of prejudice based on race, gender or gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity." According to Brunker, Alba and Dedmon (2014), though, "For reporting purposes, it does not matter whether or not the perpetrators of the crime were ever charged with a hate crime" (Hate crime in America by the numbers, para. 3).
These so-called "hate crimes" are regarded as being more serious than corresponding simple crimes because of the "hate" factor that is involved. In this regard, Issacs (2007) notes that, "Some people believe that when a crime against an individual is motivated by a negative attitude about a particular group, for example, gay men, the crime is aggravated" (p. 32). This view means that an assault on an individual perceived as gay that is motivated by a fundamental negative attitude about gays in general is considered more serious than a simple assault on an individual for other reasons (Isaacs, 2007).
Not everyone agrees with this perspective, though, and some authorities argue that many hate crimes are motivated by the same factors that cause other types of violent encounters rather than internalized negative attitudes. In this regard, Jacobs (1999) asked early on, "Should hate be a crime?" And noted that, "Most of the cases that are labeled hate crimes result from impulsive behavior or situational disputes, often involving juveniles" (p. 4). Other authorities maintain that the current push for even more draconian hate crime laws is a redundancy that has been fueled by self-interests rather than the best interests of the country. For example, Heriot (2009) suggests that:
The real reason for hate crime laws is not the defense of human beings from crime. There are already laws against that ... The real reason for the invention of hate crimes was a hard-left critique of conventional liberal justice and the emergence of special interest groups which need boutique legislation to raise funds for their large staffs and luxurious buildings. (p. 18)
As recent events across the country had vividly demonstrated, however, race-related hate crimes in particular have become extremely high-profile events that can devastate an otherwise safe community. As Dredge (2009) emphasizes, "Even cities with healthy relations among diverse groups can experience tension if hate crimes are not publicly condemned by local leaders, if residents feel local police will not protect them, or if perpetrators are not prosecuted as criminals" (p. 3). The local police agency in Ferguson, Missouri can certainly testify to this undesirable outcome.
Although not always called such, hate crimes have always been a problem in the United States, these crimes did not become more frequent following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 to the surprise...
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