Hate crimes in Georgia are the highest they’ve been in 30 years, according to a supplemental report released by the FBI in March.
Experts say while the FBI’s numbers provide a useful glimpse into how police enforce hate crime laws, they represent only a fraction of bias-related incidents.
The report, mandated under the Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990, is compiled from the voluntary submissions of law enforcement agencies.
The FBI said it released an earlier report in December suggesting hate crimes were trending downward, but that it did not provide an accurate representation of overall trends because scores of local police departments have struggled to adjust to a new tracking system – the National Incident-Based Reporting System, or NIBRS – that came online in 2021.
An unknown number of departments do not report any data at all.
FBI spokesperson Holly Morris said the bureau puts forth efforts to maximize participation in its various programs through robust engagement and outreach. While it remains engaged with non-transitioned agencies, she said, “It is unknown when all agencies can expect to become NIBRS certified due to various reasons.”
“The overall takeaway from the supplemental report is more agency coverage, resulting in better representation than was available in the original 2021 report,” Morris said.
The new numbers, supplemented by state and local data reporting, show that overall hate crimes in the U.S. rose by nearly 12% in 2021, with victims most commonly targeted because of their race or ethnicity.
Hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Sikhs and bisexual people all more than doubled. Meanwhile, attacks against Black, White and LGBTQ people comprised nearly half of all incidents. Attacks against Jewish people accounted for more than half of the religiously motivated incidents, according to the FBI.
There were similar trends in Georgia.
In 2021,…
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