FBI Director: ‘we need better hate crime tracking’
FBI director James Comey thinks that state and local law enforcement need to do a better job of tracking and reporting hate crimes so that the public can “fully understand what is happening in our communities, and how to stop it.”
Comey told an Anti-Defamation League summit that some jurisdictions fail to report hate crimes in their communities, while others say that none occurred – “a fact that would be welcome if true.”
“We must continue to impress upon our state and local counterparts in every jurisdiction the need to track and report hate crime. It is not something we can ignore or sweep under the rug,” he said.
The FBI publishes hate crime statistics – offenses motivated by a bias against a race, religion and sexual orientation, among other classifications – from the data it receives from local law enforcement agencies, but those reports are generally incomplete since not all jurisdictions contribute information.
The FBI director made the announcement just weeks after a white supremacist was charged in Kansas with killing three people outside a Jewish Community Center and a Jewish retirement complex nearby.
Hate crimes differ from other crimes, because “They strike at the heart of one’s identity,” Comey said.
Thoughts on Comey’s statements?
Should more attention be focused on hate crimes? Or another area?
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