NCJ Number
190199
Journal
Justice Research and Policy Volume: 3 Issue: 1 Dated: Spring 2001 Pages: 29-61
Date Published
2001
Length
33 pages
Annotation
This article examines police department activity on implementing hate crime policy, with particular attention to policy related to lesbians and gays.
Abstract
Local police are responsible for implementing a patchwork of Federal, State, and local policies addressing crimes motivated by bias or hate toward particular groups. This article paid particular attention to hate crime policies relating to lesbians and gays, using survey and demographic data from a 1999 sample of 250 of America's largest (by population) cities. Results suggested that many police departments were trying to implement hate crime policies and to improve relations with minority communities. The article claimed that hate crime policy implementation was shaped by officers' support and efforts, the tractability of the problem, the support of police leaders, the presence of State hate crime policies, police resources, and public opinion. Implementation efforts did not appear to be influenced by the preferences of elected officials, local hate crime policies, or a series of administrative procedures for hate crime cases. Notes, tables, references, appendix