This chapter gives you a view of how British law enforcement works in the enforcement and investigation of hate crimes. You will find it is a bit different than in the U.S. The justice department and the states attorney generals here generally play a large part in the working with legislative bodies to craft and pass hate crime legislation. Unlike the UK, law enforcement in the U.S. may be involved but not truly an equal partner at the table when laws are crafted and evaluated and submitted to legislators for passage into law.
Other challenges surface in policing hate and bias crimes. It can be difficult to gain consensus in minority communities to partner with the police where suspicions of police already exist. There are challenges in the types of interpretation of hate crimes. For example in Minnesota, a crime is automatically considered a hate crime of the victim perceives it as such or if the officer determines it is a hate crime. Although well intentioned, prosecutors are often challenged when it comes time to go to trial.
Police perceition also plays a large part. When I became police chief in Northfield, Minnesota, I was in the office for 3 hours before I received a group of college students who had been involved in an altercation with some local high schools students. The college students were Asian. The high school students had called them racial epitets, threatend to rape the women and told them that they would not last long in the community so they should leave. A few beer cans were thrown at the students and the pickup sped away. The students had obtained the license plate of the vehicle and said that when they called in to report the incident, the officer told them that there wasn't anything they could do since no one was injured.
When I went to find the police report, I found there was not one. I tracked down which officer had spoken to the students and had him called in. Short version of the story, the officer said they did not mess with bias or hate crimes. Stuff like that didn't happen in Northfield and he told me he preferred that I not wake him up anymore and make him come in on his day off. At that point I reinforced the fact I was his new chief and ordered him to write a report. He came back five minutes later with a handwritten one page report on legal note paper.
I would like to tell you this is an uncommon occurance but it is not. The need to hold law enforcement accountable for the proper investigtion of hate crimes is not just legally the right thing to do but is is morally the right thing to do.
Hate Crime Assignment Question 700 words
Question # (1)
Why do you think that many communities across the United States do not report bias or hate crimes as part of their Uniform Crime Report or state reporting system?
Question # D(2)
What hate crime agencies and programs exist in your community? How do they compare with other communities in Nebraska and other states? Do you believe they are sufficient to meet the needs in your community? If not, what would you change or add?