NCJ Number
180808
Date Published
February 2000
Length
19 pages
Annotation
Designed to accompany "Responding to Hate Crimes: A Roll Call Training Video for Police Officers," this instructor's guide poses questions that police officers frequently ask about hate crimes and provides sample answers, followed by additional training for officers on the identification of bias indicators.
Abstract
The 20-minute video covers major steps in responding to and investigating potential hate crimes; it is intended to be shown either in one session or in two or three shorter segments. The material in the instructor's guide is intended to supplement the video with up to 30 minutes of additional instruction. The guide first presents 12 questions frequently asked by police officers regarding their response to hate crimes; each question is followed by a sample answer. Among the questions are: "Why do we need to be trained in responding to hate crimes?" "Are prosecutors going to take hate crimes seriously?"; "What good does training do if our State does not have hate crime laws?"; "Do hate crime laws protect whites?"; and "Why should hate crime laws protect someone like a gay or lesbian who chooses to be in a minority group by deciding to be homosexual?" The concluding section of the book indicates how to identify a crime as a hate crime. Among the indicators are racial, ethnic, gender, and cultural differences between perpetrator and victim; comments, written statements, and gestures; drawings, markings, symbols, and graffiti; the involvement of an organized hate group or its members; and previous bias crimes/incidents. Case illustrations are provided to assist officers in analyzing bias indicators.