Today the FBI released Hate Crime Statistics, 2016,
the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program’s latest compilation about
bias-motivated incidents throughout the nation. Submitted by 15,254 law
enforcement agencies, the 2016 data provide information about the
offenses, victims, offenders, and locations of hate crimes.
Law enforcement agencies submitted incident reports involving 6,121
criminal incidents and 7,321 related offenses as being motivated by bias
toward race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation,
disability, gender, and gender identity. Please note the UCR Program
does not estimate offenses for the jurisdictions of agencies that do not
submit reports. Highlights of Hate Crime Statistics, 2016, follow.
Victims of Hate Crime Incidents
- There were 6,063 single-bias incidents involving 7,509 victims. A
percent distribution of victims by bias type showed that 58.9 percent of
victims were targeted because of the offenders’ race/ethnicity/ancestry
bias; 21.1 percent were targeted because of the offenders’ religious
bias; 16.7 percent were victimized because of the offenders’
sexual-orientation bias; 1.7 percent were targeted because of the
offenders’ gender identity bias; 1.0 percent were victimized because of
the offenders’ disability bias; and 0.5 percent were victimized because
of the offenders’ gender bias. (Due to rounding, percentage breakdowns
may not add to 100.0 percent.)
- Fifty-eight (58) multiple-bias hate crime incidents involved 106 victims.
Offenses by Crime Category
- Of the 4,720 hate crime offenses classified as crimes against
persons in 2016, 44.7 percent were for intimidation, 35.7 percent were
for simple assault, and 18.5 percent were for aggravated assault. Nine
murders and 24 rapes (all from agencies that collected data using the
revised definition of rape) were reported as hate crimes. The remaining
18 hate crime offenses were reported in the category of other.
- There were 2,519 hate crime offenses classified as crimes against
property. The majority of these (75.9 percent) were acts of
destruction/damage/vandalism. Robbery, burglary, larceny-theft, motor
vehicle theft, arson, and other offenses accounted for the remaining
24.1 percent of crimes against property.
- Eighty-two (82) additional offenses were classified as crimes
against society. This crime category represents society’s prohibition
against engaging in certain types of activity such as gambling,
prostitution, and drug violations. These are typically victimless crimes
in which property is not the object.
Known Offenders
In the UCR Program, the term known offender does not imply that the
suspect’s identity is known; rather, the term indicates that some aspect
of the suspect was identified, thus distinguishing the suspect from an
unknown offender. Law enforcement agencies specify the number of
offenders and, when possible, the race of the offender or offenders as a
group. Beginning in 2013, law enforcement officers could also report
whether suspects were juveniles or adults, as well as the suspect’s
ethnicity when possible.
- Of the 5,770 known offenders, 46.3 percent were White, and 26.1
percent were Black or African American. Other races accounted for the
remaining known offenders: 0.8 percent were Asian; 0.8 percent were
American Indian or Alaska Native; 0.1 percent were Native Hawaiian or
Other Pacific Islander; and 7.7 percent were of a group of multiple
races. The race was unknown for 18.1 percent.
- Of the 4,222 known offenders for whom ethnicity was reported, 26.1
percent were Not Hispanic or Latino, 8.0 percent were Hispanic or
Latino, and 2.3 percent were in a group of multiple ethnicities.
Ethnicity was unknown for 63.6 percent of these offenders.
- Of the 4,100 known offenders for whom ages were known, 83.8 percent were 18 years of age or older.
Locations of Hate Crimes
Law enforcement agencies may specify the location of an offense
within a hate crime incident as 1 of 46 location designations. In 2016,
most hate crime incidents (27.3 percent) occurred in or near
residences/homes. More than 18 percent (18.4) occurred on
highways/roads/alleys/streets/sidewalks; 9.9 percent occurred at
schools/colleges; 5.7 percent happened at parking/drop lots/garages; and
3.9 percent took place in churches/synagogues/temples/mosques. The
location was reported as other/unknown for 12.7 percent of hate crime
incidents. The remaining 22.1 percent of hate crime incidents took place
at other or multiple locations.
Hate Crime Statistics, 2016, is available exclusively on the FBI’s website at https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2016.
