NCJ Number
219926
Journal
Journal of Crime and Justice Volume: 30 Issue: 1 Dated: 2007 Pages: 1-15
Date Published
2007
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This study examined the prevalence of organized hate group indicators in bias-related activity, and the impact of these indicators on law enforcement involvement.
Abstract
The study found that the majority of hate activity did not involve organized hate groups. Hate activity appears to be incident-driven, as opposed to agenda driven. Additional analysis found that the presence of hate group indicators played a positive and situational conditioned influence on initiation of police action. The dataset consisted of 2,075 incidents recorded by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC) between February 15, 1987 and December 18, 1999. The PHRC records any reported incident in which the victims or authorities believed that the offense involved race, religion, or sexual-orientation bias motivation. The dataset covers noncriminal as well as criminal incidents. Cases were classified into categories of offense based on descriptions of the incidents provided by the PHRC. The findings and their relation to public perceptions of hate activity are discussed. Tables, notes, references